


Speed of Lyght

by KoKoa_B (J_Linz)



Series: Lyght [1]
Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Marvel
Genre: Adult Language, F/M, Gen, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, No Sex, Original Character(s), Other, Self Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-28 23:56:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 158,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Linz/pseuds/KoKoa_B
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A military woman is transformed accidentally into a Metahuman via a experiment gone wrong. Left for dead, Tabitha Lyght must learn how to use her new powers. On her quest for a cure, she meets several superheroes. DC/Marvel crossover; more DC than Marvel. Some plots based on Justice League Unlimited episodes and Iron Man 2 scenes. Adult language, mild violence and minor deaths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Enter Lyght

**Author's Note:**

> *Just a small author's note: everything that comes from a source, paraphrased or not, will be noted at the end of each chapter, if need be. Also; the relationships noted in the summary don't necessarily denote romantic ones. Enjoy!*

Staff Sergeant Tabitha Nicole Lyght was never an ordinary individual, although she felt like she was. Nothing extraordinary ever happened to her; she just tried to live life day-by-day, to the best of her ability. While she always tried to be the best at everything that she did, she didn’t really try to stick out in a crowd. Everyone else that she surrounded herself with always felt that she was special.

She was born and raised in Chattanooga, TN along with her four brothers. Being the only girl and the middle child was somewhat challenging for her, especially seeing that she always wanted to do what her two older brothers did. Many of her childhood friends had older sisters to talk to; the only other female in the household was her mother, Olivia Lyght. Tabitha had no other choice but to try and follow in her brothers’ footsteps until the time she graduated high school. Being a black family living in the south, her parents tried to instill the values of a great education into their children; they were all expected to go to college. She had made decent grades in school but wasn’t ready to go to college like her older brothers done. Instead, she enlisted into the Army a mere three days after graduation.

She had been outspoken throughout her high school years and because of that, was leader material from day one of boot camp; her squad leader role continued into Advanced Individual Training, where she learned her supply clerk trade. After all of her required training, she was quickly promoted to Sergeant when she arrived at her Reserve unit and was immediately volunteered for Drill Sergeant School; soldiers who were listed in the top ten percent of their job class were automatic candidates when they reached the sergeant rank. After graduating from that school, Tabitha alternated three months as a drill sergeant and three months working at her unit.

She was barely 23 when she found herself a staff sergeant. She actually liked the military and had made the decision to make it into a career. She made sure that she exceeded any task that was given to her, which was leading up to her “retiring” as a drill sergeant and about to take on the job as a recruiter and warehouse supply instructor. In the meantime, she reported to her unit for weekend drill on the first weekend of the month. To keep herself busy, she took part-time work at a popular cab company in the city.

It was a different day for her however, as she patiently waited at the drive-thru of McDonald’s. It was the second weekend of the month but yet she was dressed in her Army combat uniform (or ACU) on a late Friday morning. Her unit’s commanding officer had called last night and told her of a very important and mandatory meeting. As she grabbed her breakfast and zoomed off, she wondered if she was up for yet another promotion. It didn’t made sense, she thought as she sped through a yellow light; only six months had passed since her father, Curtis Lyght did the honors of pinning her staff sergeant chevrons on her uniform: it was way too early to become a sergeant first class!

Tabitha arrived in the parking lot in record time, parking beside a tan Lexus GS. The tinted window slowly rolled down and she was looking into the dark brown eyes of her best friend, Sergeant Tony Williams. He turned his stereo system down, which, not to her surprise, was blasting the latest hip hop CD and shook his head at her. She climbed out of her black Hyundai Elantra and smirked at him.

“What?!” her southern accent rang out. The two had been best friends ever since the 7th grade and had become inseparable. It didn’t surprise anyone that the two decided to join the Army together, both going Reserves to stay closer to their families. What **did** surprise everyone was that the two never dated. Tony never understood why he never tried to be more than friends with the nearly six foot tall woman; she was beautiful even when she was going through her tomboy stage throughout the majority of her school years! She was a tanned brown; he often joked with her, saying that she was the color of a lion! Her almond-shaped, whiskey brown eyes would always narrow at his teasing but then dance with laughter.

She slid into the passenger side of his car and offered him a breakfast sandwich which he refused. He was used to seeing thin women, especially military women. But, Tabitha was a different kind of thin. Slim, he thought to himself; and most definitely toned. Army training had given her a more defined frame.

“It’s a miracle you’ve never gotten a ticket, the way you drive…”

“Shut up! I’m never late, right?”

“By the grace of God…” he winked at her. She laughed as she finished her sandwich. He sighed and looked at the time, “So, this meeting… you’re up for promotion again, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, right! I ain’t been staff for a year yet!”

“Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if you are. They know a motivated soldier when they see one…”

“Hooah…” she joined him in the Army’s signature motivational chant. She blushed slightly as he laughed.

“See?”

“I can’t help that I found something that I enjoy doing… and it’s something that I’m actually good at…”

“You’re good at a lot of other things, Tabby…”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Cheerleading…” he added with a smirk. Tabitha snorted slightly and gave Tony a light shove, “The girl who always wore her brother’s jeans becomes captain of the cheerleading squad!” he continued. She looked out at the building that housed their unit, sipping her drink.

“I wasn’t captain and you know that…”

“Should’ve been; you were hot…” he half-heartedly teased. It was the truth, he admitted to himself: Tabitha Lyght, with her long legs, semi curvy frame and gorgeous smile was one of the most attractive cheerleaders on the squad.

“’Were’?” she gave him a look. Tony shrugged slightly.

“Well, you know what happens when you get older; looks are the first thing to go…” he said with the straightest of faces. Her eyes widened as he burst into laughter.

A man walked towards the Lexus and the two immediately took notice. Both stopped what they were doing, hopped out of the car and saluted the older man. He returned the salute with a slight smile.

“Sgt. Williams, Sgt. Lyght; formation in five minutes.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Thank you, sir.” Tony added.

“Sir… do you know what the meeting’s all about?” Tabitha tried. Their commanding officer, Captain Warren Reed smiled at the staff sergeant.

“Are we a bit anxious, Lyght?”

“… curious is more like it, sir…”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss it at the moment. Don’t worry; you’re not getting promoted again… yet! See you in formation soldiers.” the captain said and strolled off. Tony waited until the officer was out of sight and earshot before he turned his attention towards Tabitha.

“What was that all about? You got something going on with the captain? That’s fraternization, soldier!” he told her. She gave him another shocked look and pushed him fully, almost knocking the latte colored man completely off his feet.

“Are you fucking crazy?!

“Like a fox! Aw, come on; you know I was kidding! Let’s get this over with…” he suggested as the two made their way towards the front of the building. 

* * *

Their unit was a small but an important one. The soldiers were mainly responsible for the numerous auto parts for the military vehicles that were transported through most of the states; if a unit in California did not have the part, the soldiers of Quartermaster 332 had it in their stock. Tabitha took pride in that, looking around the armory. She had grown to enjoy the smells of the auto parts mixed with the various motor oils that lingered in the area.

After formation, the unit was ordered inside and gathered into the room they usually used for any type of meeting. Tony looked at his best friend as she slightly stared at the unfamiliar machine towards the back of the room. The large table and chairs had been cleared to make room for the contraption: a rectangular machine sitting right next to a chair that would usually be seen in a dentist’s office.

“You okay, sergeant?” he slightly smirked at her. She had slightly stiffened as she figured out that part of the machine’s purpose was to administer an IV, something that he knew she was seriously afraid of. Tabitha shot him a look but put her attention back on the machine.

“I wonder what the hell that thing is…” she half mumbled. Although he found it funny about her fear of needles, he had wondered the same; in the chair were indeed what looked like needles and small plastic tubes. Tony was about to voice his opinion until Captain Reed strolled in along with an unfamiliar general and two medical personnel. The small group immediately snapped to attention, regardless of the new face; a general was a general and was treated with the same respect.

She had gotten a quick glance of him and noticed that he looked young for a general despite his salt and pepper buzz cut. His features were sharp and rigid as if his face had been sculpted. The general’s skin was tanned to near perfection, giving him a rather commanding demeanor as he towered over everyone in the room. Tabitha always thought that their captain was a handsome man even as years of military training had become sketched deep into his face; however, the general’s looks were far more impressive.

“At ease, soldiers…” Captain Reed ordered and the soldiers followed the command diligently, “This is General Gary First. He is the leading commander for the department of chemical warfare located out of D.C. Sir…” he gave the floor to the general. He stood in front of the squad, nearly blocking their view of the two medics tending to the contraption behind him.

“Soldiers, I will make this speech short and simple. I have been assigned a top-secret project that will turn any soldier into a pure weapon…” his words rang out. She knew that, even without looking around that everyone else in the room had the same weird look that she had accidentally given out, “It has already undergone experiments and the first set of soldiers will be deployed shortly to test out the project.” he finished despite the looks.

“Question, sir!” someone bellowed. Tony stifled a laugh as everyone turned to the voice. Private Reyes, Tabitha wanted to roll her eyes. He was fresh out of training and she was assigned to take him underneath her wings. He was somewhat of a troublemaker, always making remarks or speaking out of terms, regardless of whom it was directed to.

The general’s hazel eyes pierced through the private’s own dark brown ones; it was the first time Tabitha had seen him slightly cringe at anyone staring him down.

“Reyes, is it? Go on, private…”

“Uh… were we hand-picked for this project, sir? We already have a few soldiers deployed from the unit, sir.” he pointed out. Tabitha slightly raised her eyebrows at him; whatever the general had done to make him respectful she wanted to learn! General First only nodded.

“I was not made aware of that situation, private. Regardless, I was told that this is the best damn transportation unit in the Mid-South…”

“Hooah!!” all of the soldiers, including Tabitha, couldn’t resist. The general gleamed at their show of motivation.

“… and only the best will be picked for this project. Private, who is your squad leader?”

“Sgt. Lyght, sir!” of course he would be quick to give out **that** information, Tabitha thought.

“Sgt. Lyght, front and center!”

“Sir, yes sir!” her heart was pounding but she diligently stood in front of the general and saluted him. He returned the salute and she stood perfectly at attention.

“Excellent procedure, sergeant; gaddamn excellent! At ease.” she was glad for the order, “Lyght, huh?”

“Yes, sir…”

“Well, now; you couldn’t write this up if you wanted to! Your name is the perfect fit for this project! Tell me, sergeant; how far you want to go to serve your country?” he asked the woman. Not that far, she immediately thought to herself. When she had made the decision to join the military, it had never crossed her mind that she would have to fight in a war or even go overseas. Even as the war in Iraq was going on throughout her early years in the Army, she had been lucky so far not being deployed anywhere.

“To the very end, sir!” she lied.

“Boy… if I wasn’t married, I’d snatch you up!” the general replied. His response made the other soldiers snicker, including Tony, and Tabitha turn a shade of red. General First took notice, laughed and gave her a hard slap on her shoulder, “A joke, sergeant; no need to turn colors on me! Are you ready to be the first volunteer for this project?” he asked. What, I have a choice, she thought jokingly. She kept a straight face.

“Sir; yes sir!”

“Out-fucking-standing! Now, I won’t leave you soldiers in the dark. The project is named ‘Operation Recharge’. They don’t pay me to be a scientist so I will be the first to tell you that I have the slightest clue as far as the technicalities. All I know is that Sgt. Lyght will be strapped down to this chair and her vitals recorded at all times. These two medics will inject a secret serum through her IV and then she will be given a small jolt…” Tabitha couldn’t hide her surprised look at his words. A jolt; no one said anything about getting shocked, “That jolt will activate the serum and Sgt. Lyght will be twice as strong and twice as fast as any weapon made!” the general continued.

“… Damn!” Tony couldn’t help but to express however Tabitha was still stuck on the idea of being shocked. What type of mess did she get herself volunteered into?

“The only downside of the procedure is that she would only have the effects for thirty minutes. Sergeant… are you ready to do your country a favor?”

“Locked, cocked and ready to rock[1], sir!!”

“Take a good look at this sergeant, soldiers; she is about to make history. Give the medics a few minutes to set up and we’ll get you… ‘recharged’, soldier…” he added with a slight wink and left the room with the unit’s captain. She finally let out a sigh and turned to the others who had gathered around her. Tabitha eyed Reyes as she approached him. He cracked a smile at her.

“Nervous, sergeant?”

“I’m gonna kill you, Reyes!”

“What did I do?!”

“Why am I even surprised that you’d open your big mouth and start asking questions and shit? When this is over with, I’m assigning you to detail for the rest of your career!” she threatened. Tony threw an arm around her shoulder and laughed.

“She’s only kidding! Besides; how was you supposed to know that she would get volunteered?” he asked. Reyes shrugged but kept the smile on his face.

“I guess the sergeant wanted me to lie to the general…”

“Hmph… never stopped you in the past…” Tabitha mumbled. Tony pulled her away from the rest of the unit and towards the medics.

“I won’t lie; I’m kinda jealous…” he noted. She gave him a look.

“Well, then **you** go ahead and volunteer!” she said. Her worried voice grabbed the attention of the female medic who was helping her male counterpart set up the machine. She looked at the two with timid, green eyes but smiled.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about, really, Sgt. Lyght. The procedure is quite simple and quick.”

“What about the… jolt thing?”

“Oh; it’s only a small shock. You’ll barely feel it!” she kept her smile.

“I don’t think it’s the shock that’s really on her mind…” Tony volunteered. The medic switched glances from Tabitha to Tony and then back to Tabitha and nodded.

“You’re afraid of needles?” she asked lowly. Tabitha slightly nodded. As General First and Captain Reed made their way back into the room, the medic smiled wider and helped her into the chair. She took her ACU blouse off, exposing her brown undershirt. The medic placed electrodes underneath her shirt around her heart and immediately strapped her to the chair. Well, so much for backing down, Tabitha thought, “Don’t worry; I’ll hold your hand…” she whispered and winked; the sergeant was the only female in the unit and the medic had a feeling that she had a reputation to hold on to.

General First smiled widely as he saw that the motivated woman was ready to undergo the procedure. He turned to the other soldiers in the room.

“After Sgt. Lyght undergoes the procedure, she will be assisted to another room and be held under twenty-four hour observation. She will experience the effects that we talked about within seconds of the jolt. Her vitals will be checked throughout the entire day; Sgt. Lyght is in no way going into a dangerous situation. Ready?” he looked at the two medics. The male checked the machine as the green-eyed medic looked on. When he nodded at her, she gave the general a thumb’s up. She immediately squeezed Tabitha’s hand as the male inserted the IV in her arm. Tabitha winced only a bit, being careful not to show her weakness in front of the unit but return the squeeze fiercely.

“The IV has been inserted and the serum will now be administered.” the male medic announced. He held up a small syringe with a pink-tinted liquid inside. He injected the serum inside the injection port of the IV tube. The green-eyed medic watched the monitor on the machine for any abnormalities in Tabitha’s heart rate. Something else caught her eye as well as the male medic’s and the two started to fiddle with the contraption.

“Everything okay over there…?” Tabitha silently asked. The woman put her attention back to her and gave her another smile.

“A minor misreading; something that can be fixed. It was probably slightly jammed during transport.” she told Tabitha but looked back at the machine. She slightly sighed and nodded to her counterpart, “Okay; readings are normal, now. Vitals are normal and steady.”

“Sgt. Lyght, we will now give you two doses of small electrical shocks. This is needed to activate the serum. They’ll feel like small pinches, nothing more.” the male medic assured her. She nodded as two more electrodes were put on her forearm. With a press of a button, Tabitha had to admit that they were right; she felt nothing but a slight pinch.

However, something started happening. The machine was supposed to only give out two jolts, Tabitha knew for sure. She frowned slightly as she continued to feel the pinching sensation on her forearm.

“Umm…” she tried. Grinding and whirring sounds from the machine caught everyone else’s attention. Smoke immediately appeared and before the medics could either remove the electrodes from her arm or shut down the machine, it released a huge voltage that surged throughout Tabitha’s body, making her seize in the chair.

“Tabby!!” Tony tried to get to his best friend but was held back by the others who were watching in fear.

“Back down, sergeant; you’ll get electrocuted!!” someone shouted at him.

“Get the soldiers out of here; **NOW**!” the general barked at whoever was listening. Captain Reed led his unit out of the room as the medics attempted to get the machine to stop its assault on the staff sergeant. By the time the machine finally broke down, the room was filled with smoke and the agonizing smell of burnt flesh.

“Sir, the sergeant!”

“Don’t touch her!!” he ordered the woman. He went over to Tabitha, himself, quickly studying her limp body. He slowly and carefully touched her; when he was not electrocuted, he let out a small sigh.

“Sir… we have to give her…”

“Hurry up and dispose of the body.” he made up his mind calmly. The woman looked at him in complete horror.

“General! We can attempt to save her…”

“Did you not hear me? If she gets revived, this experiment is ruined. Check her vitals and if there aren’t any… dump the body…” he said sternly and turned to leave. The medics looked at each other. The woman huffed as the man undid Tabitha’s straps and started to check for a pulse. He looked at her and shrugged.

“I… I’m sorry, Cheryl; I need this job…”

  


* * *

[1]Taken from “The Rock”


	2. A Stroke of Luck

Random flashbacks of a life screamed through: a birthday party, a graduation scene, an all-nighter that almost went wrong. Then, there was darkness; a void with no light or sound. It was the most terrifying thing anyone could go through. Just when the mind was about to scream, the will of the soul was about to ache for anything to happen, an excruciating zap was felt and coursed throughout the body. It was enough for Tabitha to yell out in pain, holding back tears. She let the pain dissipate before she attempted to gather her senses. Noises and smells, finally; not the best of smells but it was a small relief that she was able to sense something. She slowly opened her eyes; her vision was blurred but she could tell that it was raining: she was also finally able to feel.

Out of instinct, the first thing that came to mind was trying to remember who she was. Name: Tabitha Nicole Lyght. Born and raised in Tennessee. Occupation: Army staff sergeant. Date……

She rubbed her eyes and slightly moaned; the effects of whatever had struck her still coursed through her body, making her lightheaded and confused. What day was it? Why couldn’t she remember the date? And, more importantly… where was she?

A jolt, a voice repeated in her mind. Her eyes finally focused and she realized in disgust that she was in an alley. She slowly started to remember things as she tried to figure out why her body felt so weird… and why she was in an alley! An experiment; some type of liquid being injected inside of her and then a jolt to her body. An over-zealous general and terrified green eyes. She recalled smoke from some type of machine and the sudden sensation of something that felt like it ripped her in half.

Did she die? Tabitha tried to stand but her legs would not cooperate; she immediately fell back down. Not wanting to try it again, she scooted herself to the side of the building and propped herself up against the wall. She did die, she slowly realized. The only explanation as to why she was in that alley… was that the general had her dumped there. Her brain was still cloudy, she was still feeling funny but she knew that she was a dump job.

She felt like she was on fire, a pins and needle feeling coursing through her entire body. She angrily wondered what the general had told the others in her unit. She couldn’t even imagine the web of lies he told them. Because, if he would’ve told the others that she had died, she would’ve been still in the “comfort” of the darkness she was experiencing. That thought made her wonder how she was revived… or even **if** she had even died. Maybe she was just unconscious.

It made her even more upset; if she was merely unconscious and woke up in that alley, that meant that the general didn’t need any evidence that something wrong had happened. She imagined him telling the others that the experiment was actually a success; the electrocution was just a small setback. They would be slightly celebrating that the staff sergeant would be one of the first to be deployed overseas to test it out even more; they would line up to volunteer to fight alongside her. It was the perfect lie; no one would ever think to question it.

Tabitha had to stop thinking about that and start worrying about the weird feeling that coursed through her veins. It felt like… electricity. Her eyes widened as they were fully focused… and she saw a hint of electric currents waving throughout her hands. She closed them shut, shaking her head; she was having an illusion. She had never been electrocuted before; she had no idea of what side effects she would have from being shocked to the point of unconsciousness. The only thing that she knew was that she needed to calm down and get out of that alley.

Tabitha willed herself to stand, leaning on the wall for support. It was a small struggle to become upright but when she finally did, her legs became jelly yet again. No… no, she tried to reprimand herself; she was **not** going to cry! She curled herself up into a ball, trying hard not to let her tears fall. She just wanted things to go right; she wanted that electric feeling gone, she wanted to walk, she wanted to get out of there… she wanted to find that general…

A sudden shuffle startled her and she popped her head up. A homeless person, she sighed to herself. With everything that was happening to her, she hadn’t noticed the man across from her. He got up slowly and approached her. She glanced down at her hands; the currents were starting to become noticeable and she buried them underneath her arms. She was slightly frightened; Tabitha had never encountered a homeless person before and figured that they were just like how they had been portrayed in movies: drunk, smelly and incoherent, possibly delusional and violent.

However, the man was sympathetic as he approached her with what looked like a blanket. She could see his eyes beyond the filth, a filth that came from living in the alley for a while; they were as brown and gentle as her own were. He smiled as he draped the ragged blanket over her.

“I’ve been waiting on you to wake up. Could’ve passed for a dead woman…” his southern accent had her hoping that she was at least still in the city. She didn’t remember any alleyways in Chattanooga but that was the least of her worries.

“How… long I’ve been out…?” the coarseness of her voice sounded as if she had come out of a deep sleep. The man continued to smile as he held out a grimy hand; he wanted to help her at least stand up.

“Oh… ‘bout a day or two. Thought you were an old woman at first… but I can see that you’re a young’un…” he mentioned. He had grabbed her shoulder to help lift her up. It was then when she had felt it; that pins and needles feeling that was making her uncomfortable fired up, making her grab the man’s arm. Without warning, the currents that had started as small waves around her hands exploded into streams of lightning, traveling from her fingertips and up the man’s arm. She couldn’t stop it; Tabitha watched in disbelief as the man who was trying to help her had been immediately engulfed in an electrical surge. After what seemed like forever, he finally fell to the ground, still convulsing from the lightning… the lightning that she had seen come from her fingers. The feeling that had made her immobile calmed down enough for her to move; still in shock, she hurriedly crawled into a corner deeper into the alley. She watched as the surge that had killed the man finally disintegrated and was replaced with the awful smell of burnt flesh in the air. Confused, frightened and almost sick to her stomach, Tabitha curled up into a tight ball… and finally cried. 

* * *

The doctor was not a medical doctor but she had enjoyed the title very much. She was actually a professor and she felt that she was a very good one. Not as good as her close friend who taught at the same college but she chalked that up as the two having a different passion when they were in college. However, she was all the more flattered that he had informed her of the phenomenon that was happening in the downtown area. He knew that while their other colleagues would have sat there and simply talked about it, she would find the time out of her busy schedule to investigate.

Dr. Jamila Lindsey was born and raised in Memphis, TN; a few years after attending Duke University and then Columbia University, she finally returned home to become a physics professor at the local community college. It wasn’t too much different from the career path that she wanted to pursue ever since the age of 12; she had always wanted to become a meteorologist.

Jamila had always had a thing for weather, particularly the bad part of it. While attending Duke University in North Carolina, she wanted badly to be a part of the hurricane hunters; she couldn’t explain her fascination with them. However, she was let down when she found out that she would have to go through the military in order to do so. When she found out that hurricanes and tornadoes went hand-in-hand, she decided to take the risk and volunteer to help out storm-chasing teams. She learned more than she ever imagined.

The 5’5 professor dismissed her class early; she had put off her investigation for too long. She wanted to make quick work of her snooping around so not to worry her family. According to her good friend, Dr. Wyatt Rivera, there had been a series of unexplained deaths in an alley downtown. All of the bodies found looked as if they had been electrocuted. Any regular person would think that maybe they were unlucky victims of lightning strikes but there were two things that made Jamila believe that it didn’t make sense. The chances of lightning striking a person were very unlikely; it was possible but for the victims to be in the same spot, in the same alley? The professor was not buying that.

The other thing was that Jamila was a devout follower of the weather; there had been only one severe lightning storm in the past month. The deaths had been occurring almost constantly ever since that storm. The police had not ruled out that the victims may had been random targets for a bunch of bullying teens or young adults but she wondered, why that particular alleyway? Her close friend was right; things were not making sense and the only thing to explain it was that something phenomenal was indeed happening.

Jamila easily parallel parked her vehicle on the side of street; because of the sudden deaths, not a lot of people even bothered to walk on that side, let alone park there. The alleyway was not hard to locate; it was the only one on that side. She entered the alley as quickly and quietly as possible. No sooner than she did, Jamila smelt the stench of overflowed sewage, garbage and burnt flesh. It was no wonder no one wanted to go near the area; she had no idea which smell was worse!

Something stirring in one of the dark crevices grabbed the professor’s attention over the smell and she looked in that direction. It was one of the homeless people, she knew; seeing that they were there, Jamila figured that she could start her investigation with talking to that person. It was foolish, somewhat dangerous, she knew but she carefully made her way towards the person. As she gotten closer, she saw that it was an old woman curled up in a ball. Her white hair, the color of pure snow stood out in her dark and dank surroundings.

“H-hey… you okay?” she tried. When the woman suddenly jerked her head up, Jamila saw firsthand that it was no old woman! The white-haired… girl looked no older than twenty, even with her face covered with filth. She had been crying, Jamila could tell, and knew that she may have witnessed some, if not all of the deaths. Her eyes were swollen and moist as she looked at the professor in fear. Another thing that crossed the professor’s mind was why… and how did the girl dye her hair so perfectly white!

“N-no; don’t touch me!! Stay away!!” the girl’s lips quivered. Her accent was just as thick as the professor’s so Jamila knew that the frightened girl was from the area. The professor saw that she had been a beautiful girl once; her eyes were a pretty light brown, lighter than her own chestnut eyes. Her skin was smooth despite being marred by dirt. The girl’s eyes now danced with fear as she tucked her hands tighter underneath her arms.

“Wait… I wanna help. I wanna ask you something. Please; just let me…”

“I-I-I… don’t wanna shock you, too!!” she yelled, doing her best to inch away from Jamila. She came closer, stretching her hand out anyway. It was enough for the girl to widen her eyes, let out a terrifying scream and swat at her hand.

Jamila knew that if she would have told anyone what she had just witnessed… no one would believe her! As the girl swatted at her, a surge of lightning burst from her fingers, narrowly missing the professor as she jumped out of the way. It was her turn to narrow her eyes.

“Holy… shit; what are you?!” she managed but it only made the girl sob. She turned her head away from Jamila.

“G-g-go away… please!” she begged and continued to cry. Jamila calmed down and simply watched as electrical currents faintly flowed throughout the girl’s body. As scary as it was, she had to also admit that… it was simply amazing! Jamila took her glasses off, wiped at them and put them back on; the girl was still slightly glowing with surges. The professor had other things in mind than simply walking away from this phenomenon.

“Wait… I came here to help. Would you let me help you… please?” it was her turn to beg. The girl didn’t stop crying but looked at the professor.

“H-help…? N-n-no one can h-help me! If you touch me… you’ll die… what can you do?!”

“… I can help. Trust me.” she wouldn’t let up. Being a physics professor as well as a former storm-chaser, Jamila knew a thing or two about lightning; she had this sense that she would be able to help the girl.

The girl finally stopped crying and looked up at Jamila. She was still there, wanting to help. Jamila slightly smiled at her, “First things first; can you stand?” she waited for an answer. The girl slowly stood up and the professor immediately noticed two things; she almost towered over her and whoever the mutant was, she was military personnel, “What’s your name?”

“T-Tabitha…”

“Did you… kill those people, Tabitha?” her question made electricity come to life around the girl.

“I… I didn’t mean to! I-I-I d-don’t know what…”

“Okay, okay, okay… I understand…” she carefully held her arms out, trying to calm Tabitha down, “I can tell you one thing, already; whatever you got, it’s going on emotions. You gotta calm down, okay?”

“I’m… so confused! What happened to me?!” Tabitha continued to panic. Jamila started to step back as the surges continue to flow around her, trying to snap out in all directions.

“That’s what we’re going to find out. But, you’re gonna have to calm down if you want to leave this alley.” Jamila explained quickly. After a few deep breaths and a couple of sniffles, the electrical surges calmed down and slowly dissipated from her body, “Good. See; we’re taking a step in the right direction! Now, don’t think just… do, okay? The good ol’ doc is gonna take care of you, alright?” she smiled. Tabitha continued to take deep breaths, clearing her mind but nodded. Had she heard right; was the woman an actual doctor? It relieved Tabitha and for the first time in a while, her mind was clear.

“You’re doing great, Tabitha! Now… I’m gonna come to you and lay my hand on you; **don’t** panic…” Jamila warned the girl when she saw that her eyes widened and a slight current started to form around her hands, “Just keep breathing deeply and concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.” she continued to explain. Jamila slowly put her hand on Tabitha’s shoulder, braced for a shock and was relieved that she didn’t feel a thing. She smiled at her, “Now… let’s get you out of this alley.”

She barely breathed as the two made their way to the professor’s home. She was curious as to why they were going to the woman’s home rather than to some hospital but she didn’t question it. She was actually glad that they weren’t going there; the very thought of being kept like an experimental lab rat only made the electricity slightly come up in small spurts. She cleared her mind for the umpteenth time and tried to think about what would lie in store for her. She found herself actually looking forward to a nice, warm meal and a soft bed to sleep in. A quick sniff and Tabitha knew that maybe a long, hot bath would be the first priority.

She slightly looked out of the window as the sun started to set and realized that she had no idea where she was. If this was Chattanooga, she was in an area she was not used to seeing. Her slight tour was interrupted as she caught a glimpse of herself in the side mirror. Okay… there’s no need to panic; there’s a perfectly good explanation as to why my hair is white, she told herself. She tried to take her attention off of her new hair color and glanced at the woman driving. Of course, she would have the answers that she wanted but Tabitha decided against speaking to her at the moment.

The professor looked very calm, despite having to deal with Tabitha’s odor. She deducted that maybe she wanted her to stay calm as well. Tabitha liked her skin tone; while her best friend had teased that she was the color of a lion, the professor had a medium copper tone. Her dreads were an odd mix: her roots were a very dark brown that subtly blended into a red-violet color on some strands, a golden brown on others; they were pinned up into a neat bun going towards the back.

The professor’s arms were as toned as Tabitha’s, showing off a few tattoos which surprised her. The one that stuck out the most was the slightly faded one towards her shoulder; two roses shaped into a heart. She knew that they were supposed to be roses however the petals looked more like claws. Of course, Tabitha thought, underneath it a man’s name was tattooed. She assumed that how the woman had chosen to wear a cotton top with short sleeves that barely covered her shoulders, he was the current boyfriend. Husband, Tabitha immediately corrected herself when the glint of silver wedding bands caught her eye.

Ten minutes passed and Jamila turned into a newly developed neighborhood. There was construction still going on in the front and they made their way towards the end of the street, where there were finally signs of housing. They varied in shape and style; some were two stories, some were not. Jamila parked her sage Mercury Mariner behind a tan Pontiac Grand Am. The front yard was neatly trimmed, evenly separated by the concrete sidewalk leading up to the huge porch that surrounded the home, a two-storied house with red brick and peach sidings. Two flags stood in front of the porch in the yard, silently swaying and greeting people to the home: U.S. Marine Corps on the right, University of Memphis on the left. It was enough to make Tabitha stop dead in her tracks. University of Memphis… was she actually in Memphis?! That was almost 300 miles away from her home; did the general actually have the audacity to dump her there?!

She took a quick scan of the neighborhood, just to make sure. Unfortunately, the professor was the only one who had anything of that effect in her yard. She looked back at her with a smile.

“Everything okay?” she asked. Tabitha gave her a quick nod and followed her anyway inside the house. Her ears were introduced to sudden, shrilled laughter. Thumps and thuds could be heard all throughout the house and a man’s desperate voice calling out to “ring the damn bell”.

Jamila looked back apologetically… and then realized the actual danger of bringing the mutant into her home.

“Remember what I told you, Tabitha…” she quickly added. Deep breaths, clear mind; deep breaths, clear mind, “I’m sorry. It’s Friday; ‘Smackdown’ is coming on tonight. This is how we get ready!” she explained. It never dawned on her that the married doctor would have children; from the sounds of it, small, active… hyper children. Before Tabitha could question what a “Smackdown” was, more thumping was heard coming towards them.

“Momma’s home!!” a little girl’s voice sang out and three hyper children immediately appeared; the girl was accompanied by two boys. Deep breaths, clear mind…

They bombarded their mother, nearly knocking her off her feet. Triplets, she could tell, all three were thin; one boy with jet black braids, the other with dirt brown braids and the girl had dark brown/reddish ponytails. All three reached their mother’s waist easily. The boys were spitting images of the professor, all the way down to their medium copper complexion, oval chestnut eyes and thin, bow-shaped lips; the girl had a beautiful mahogany tone with big, round nearly black eyes. When a man walked into the hallway, Tabitha saw that there would be no way the man would be able to deny that the little girl was his daughter.

At first, the man smiled at the scene of his children tackling their mother, finally getting her down on the ground. Her once neat bun escaped its restraints and her dreads flowed an inch past her shoulders. The husband’s attention finally landed on Tabitha and he cleared his throat. Deep breaths, clear mind…

Jamila was finally let up from the floor and gave her husband a quick kiss. Any other time, Tabitha would have laughed at the fact that the couple was nearly the same height. However, his dark eyes made it known that he didn’t have a clue who she was, why she was there… and why she smelled as if she just crawled from out of a sewer.

“Who’s this, mommy?” one of the boys asked, looking up at Tabitha. The other two followed suit. Deep breaths, clear mind…

“This… is Tabitha. Tabitha, this is my family. That’s my husband, Albert and these three are our babies…”

“Hey!”

“We’re **not** babies!” the girl stated for her brothers. Jamila raised her eyebrows at the brazenness of the children but let out a small laugh.

“Fine! These two… young men are Albert…”

“A.C., momma; she’s gonna get confused…” A.C. corrected her. Jamila huffed as his father gave him a stern look.

“Boy; what did I tell you about that?!” Albert’s accent wasn’t as strong as Jamila’s but Tabitha could tell that he was southern as well. Jamila sighed and hugged her children.

“Anyway; this is A.C. and Jamil. And, this young lady is Solonia. Guys, Miss Tabitha’s gonna be staying with us for a while.” Jamila finished but soon regretted her last sentence. Her children’s eyes lit up and they started to approach Tabitha. Her eyes widened slightly and she immediately hid her hands behind her back. Deep… mind, clear… breaths…?

“Really?! She’s gonna watch wrestlin’ with us?!”

“Who’s your favorite cuz if you say Randy Orton then that’s a smart choice, right dad?!”

“You must be as old as granny and paw-paw cuz your hair is whiiiiite…”

“H-hey! That ain’t nice!” Albert snapped at Jamil. Jamila quickly intercepted her children and pushed them through the hallway.

“Your mouth gonna get you in trouble, again! Now, that’s enough! She will watch wrestling with us if you three behave from now on! Is everyone’s room clean?”

“Aw, ma…”

“Don’t ‘aw, ma’ me! You know the rule; if you wanna watch Randy Orton, you gotta clean your room! Now, march; all three of you!” she ordered. Even while going upstairs, Tabitha could hear the unpleasant groans. Jamila walked back into the hallway in time to see her husband reaching his hand out for Tabitha to shake… and Tabitha slightly backing away. She quickly approached the two and immediately grabbed Tabitha, forgetting about the danger of doing so. She had tensed up… but was surprised that she didn’t shock the professor.

“Uh… no! She… uh… she needs a bath!”

“Baby…”

“I’ll explain later, after dinner. Just… just make sure they clean their rooms!” she hurried Tabitha upstairs.

She didn’t know how but Tabitha survived her long awaited bath. The technique that Jamila had taught her seem to had worked as she found herself actually enjoying being in the presence of hyper children watching and imitating their favorite wrestlers. She even let out a small laugh as Jamila repeatedly told the children to eat while they had dinner afterwards. She didn’t blame them for their curiosity; there sat a white-haired stranger who didn’t speak and they were determined to get her undivided attention. As soon as their plates were almost empty (Jamila realized that the three were not going to finish their dinner that night and gave up), their father took them upstairs and got them ready for bed. Jamila excused herself to help out; the three were still excited about their new houseguest.

While the triplets were being tucked in (their questions non-stop), Tabitha carefully placed herself on the comfortable couch and started to nod off. She had been bathed, slightly taken care of, fed… and finally out of that alley. She was so exhausted she didn’t stir as Jamila made her way back downstairs.

“Oh… yeah, I guess you’ve had a long day, yourself. Let me show you where you’ll be sleeping.” her voice woke Tabitha up. She yawned, stretched and smiled at her slightly.

“… sorry…”

“No worries! I would let you stay there but the guest bed is much more comfortable.” she said. Tabitha groggily followed her upstairs and immediately saw the two rooms that were meant for the children; each door had been customized to their likings. Jamila opened the door next to Solonia’s room and Tabitha immediately plopped into the bed.

“This will be your room. We’ll talk in the morning…” she slightly laughed. Tabitha lifted her head and glanced back at the professor, a small smile on her face.

“Thank you… for everything…” she said. Jamila only shrugged.

“No problem. Good night.” she said but knew that Tabitha probably didn’t hear her; she was breathing soundly into the blanket. 

* * *

There was a picnic at the beach. The triplets were building small sand castles and then would body slam each other into them. The professor and her husband were sitting besides her, eating and scolding their children, who weren’t listening. Tony was, well, being Tony; talking about random things, pausing ever so often to ogle at a bikini-clad woman. She ate a sandwich, and debated on taking a quick dip in the ocean. The water was crystal clear, actually tempting her to get a little relief from the sun.

Then she remembered that she couldn’t swim. The cloudless sky immediately turned blood red with black clouds. The calm waves were now as violent as if a hurricane was making its presence known. Everyone else on the beach had run for shelter, leaving Tabitha there alone. She tried to run after them but saw that she couldn’t move, stuck in some sort of quicksand. She looked towards the water and could only watch as the waves started to come closer and closer, almost promising that they would take her life. She fought to move but with no luck; she even tried to dig herself out. She turned to call for help but there was no one in sight. Lightning flashed across the red sky every time she tried to make another move.

Before Tabitha knew it, the waves had engulfed her, turning into ten feet swells. They hit her as hard as fists and she found herself bracing for the next hit, unable to even defend herself against them. She opened her mouth to scream but was immediately silenced as water engulfed her lungs. She coughed until they were clear and screamed. She tried to free herself with more urgency and was finally able to move. It didn’t matter; as soon as she freed herself, she looked back at the waves: there was no escaping them. She was going to drown.

Her eyes popped open and she was in the dark. She blinked a few times and saw the shadows in the room. She tried to catch her breath, to steady her heart and realized that she had been dreaming. Tabitha shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath; it smelt as if something had been burnt. Her hands were close to burning, that pins and needles feeling ran rampart through her veins. She jumped out of bed and even in the dark, could see the faint currents that traveled throughout her hands and body. Still shaking, she turned the light on and looked in terror at the bed; where she had laid was outlined in semi-seared sheets.

Tabitha dropped to her knees and tried desperately to calm down. Once she did, her next mission was to hunt down the linen closet and replace the ruined sheets. She immediately worried about what the doctor would say about them and she felt the start of that electric feeling edging out. Calm down; just calm down, she told herself repeatedly. She needed to splash some cold water on herself, to shake the bad thoughts out of her head.

She slowly walked out of the room and listened for anyone stirring. When she heard nothing, she made her way to the bathroom. With it being right next to the master bedroom, she heard the two parents talking as she silently closed the door.

“So, we can talk now? Who is that? And why is she staying with us?”

“I… okay; I really don’t know, exactly.”

“… What…?”

“I… found her in an alley…….. don’t give me that look; let me expla…”

“You brought a bum here?! You let our kids be exposed to her like that?!”

“Just let me explain! We were in the lounge the other day and Wyatt started yakking at the mouth about how these bums were being electrocuted in the alley. I tried to get him to come with me but you know how chicken shit he really is!”

“So, what; you went to check it out. By yourself. Without calling me.”

“You would’ve stopped me…”

“Damn right, I would’ve!” Albert slightly raised his voice. Tabitha heard a sigh and continued to listen, “So, now you’re a hero to the bums. You saved her from the sicko who’s been torturing them?”

“… Not exactly. See… she’s the one who’s been killing them folks…” Jamila explained carefully. Tabitha heard the shifting of sheets.

“She’s… **WHAT**?!?! You brought that muthafucker into our own home; around our kids?!?!”

“Shush!! Don’t wake up the whole damn neighborhood! Would you just try to listen to me?”

“There’s no excuse for it!!”

“They were all accidents!”

“Yeah, sure. ‘Oh, I apologize for shocking you; it was a mistake’!”

“She has powers!” the professor finally raised her voice. Tabitha could only imagine the look that the man was giving his wife at the moment. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, had not felt the surge as it escaped her fingers, she wouldn’t had believed it herself!

“… Powers? Wait… she’s a mutant?”

“I know what I saw, before you say that I’ve lost it. The first time I tried to touch her, the shit shot out of her hand! If I hadn’t ducked, I would’ve been fried!”

“What happened to her…?” his voice was calmer.

“I don’t know. She doesn’t even know, I don’t think. She can’t control it as much. I’m thinking that whatever made her that way just happened, you know? She’s in shock, still.”

“Why do you think you can help her?”

“Baby… she shot out lightning. I **know** I can help her… and I promised that I would…”

“Lightning, huh? That’s your expertise. I don’t know. I truly won’t believe it until I see it.”

“Well… we’ll drop the kids over to daddy’s tomorrow, then.”


	3. For Every Action, There's A Reaction

She didn’t dream after going back to sleep, to her surprise. She didn’t know if she even wanted to. Tabitha awakened to find the sun in her eyes, the sheets not charred and the smell of the alley **not** overwhelming her! She had felt something that she hadn’t felt in a while… rejuvenation. She didn’t have to worry about someone touching her in the middle of the night, trying to steal the little rag of a blanket that she did have; she didn’t have to worry about insects and rats scurrying over her as she tried to get somewhat comfortable… and she didn’t have to worry about accidently electrocuting anyone. She admitted that it was a challenge to constantly try to keep the surges from erupting all over her body, but it was a vast improvement from the day before.

She ran her hand over the soft purple and blue diamond-patterned sheets, covering her shoulders with them. She had a bed, now, she happily thought; a big, nice one with down pillows, thick covers and soft sheets. She moved her head away from the sun’s rays and let her eyes adjust by themselves. Pins and needles feeling aside, she felt better than she had in a long while. Tabitha slowly stretched and propped herself up against the headboard. She smiled as she lazily looked at what was at the foot of the bed; a TV. Last night had been fun, watching the likes of the various wrestlers. However, she needed to know what had gone on since she was dumped in that alley… and to confirm if she was indeed in Memphis.

Locating the remote on the nightstand beside the bed, Tabitha turned the TV on and wasn’t surprised to see cartoon characters fill up the screen. She quietly studied the remote, pressed the guide button and scanned through the menu for a local channel. It only took going through two commercials and the beginning of the broadcast for her fears to be confirmed; she was indeed in Memphis. Not wanting to make herself upset, she tried not to think about it and continued to watch the early morning news. It had been almost exactly a month since she was volunteered for that experiment. Nothing of major importance had happened since she last saw a news report; as a man went to talk about sports, Tabitha turned the channel.

She was watching a movie when there was a knock on the door. Tabitha realized that maybe she should’ve gotten out of bed, washed up and prepared to eat breakfast; she didn’t want to seem lazy to the doctor and her family. However, as the door slowly opened, Tabitha had a feeling that she would be excused due to all that she had been through.

She smiled as Jamila blinked a few times, slightly startled.

“Oh! Well… you’re up!” she returned the smile. She had expected Tabitha to be sound asleep still and she wouldn’t have blamed her. The young woman looked extremely better than what she did a mere few hours ago.

Jamila opened the door wider, revealing her husband right behind her. Tabitha’s smile actually widened as he casually wrapped his arm around her waist. His orange polo shirt stood out but actually complimented his mahogany skin. Looking at his jet black hair made her realize that all three of the children inherited a variation of their mother’s hair color.

“Yeah. I, uh… I kinda… messed up your sheets…” she decided to admit. The professor kept her smile and waved it off.

“No worries. We got ‘em from Wal-Mart; we can go get some more.” she said. Her husband slightly rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Another excuse to go shopping…”

“Shut up!” she playfully snapped. Before anyone could say another word, the triplets pushed their parents out of the way and jumped in the bed with their new guest. Tabitha flinched and the parents noticed, being seconds away from pulling the children out of harm’s way. However, she took a deep breath and smiled at the three. The children were still in their pajamas but had freshly brushed teeth; Tabitha could smell the combination of grape, strawberry and citrus toothpaste.

“Miss Tabitha, you’re still here!” A.C.’s eyes widened.

“Yeah… still here…” the youngest in her family was 14; she wasn’t used to speaking to children this young.

“That means she’s staying with us for real! You gonna eat with us?!” Jamil asked. She could tell that his father probably warned him about his manners but he constantly tried to stare at her white hair.

“Sure. You cooking?” she asked and it sent the children in an uproar of laughter.

“That’s silly; he can’t cook! He’s just a little boy!”

“I’m **not** a little boy; moooom… tell her to stop it!” Jamil started to whine. Albert gathered his children.

“It’s too early for all that! Go finish washing up or Miss Tabitha won’t eat with us…” he warned and they bolted out the door before he could stop them.

It was one of the nicest breakfasts she had in a while, even when she was in Chattanooga. Tabitha awkwardly spent a little more time with the children afterwards before the Lindsey parents took them to spend the rest of the day with their grandparents. When they returned, they found Tabitha in the living room watching TV. She was dressed in a white t-shirt that was a size too big for her and green Marine Corps physical training sweats that were a bit too short for her. She gave them an uneasy look; she felt as if she wasn’t supposed to have made herself comfortable. Albert laughed slightly.

“It’s okay. She should’ve talked it over with me before she made a decision but… my wife said that you’re staying with us so you don’t have to feel uncomfortable around us.” He reassured. Tabitha nodded and turned the TV off as the two sat on the other side of her.

“I guess… you two need to talk to me.”

“Yeah. How’d you end up in that alley?” Albert really wanted to know. Tabitha sighed and tried not to get upset.

“Well… I think I was dumped there… I **know** I was dumped there!” she narrowed her eyes at the thought. She explained to the two about the last day she fully remembered, right down to the second where the machine malfunctioned on her, “Next thing I know… I’m waking up in the alley…”

“You’re from ‘Chat Town’…? Why did he dump you all the way over here?” Jamila actually asked herself. Tabitha shrugged.

“I don’t know. Guess he figured that no one knows me here. By the time anyone would’ve noticed that I was dead here, they would’ve just called me an unknown bum and left it at that…”

“That’s cold…” Albert shook his head in disbelief. He slightly studied the young woman, remembering what his wife told him the night before, “My wife said that you’re… special…” he looked her dead in the eye. It was the first time that she fully realized it; she was special in a way. A freak, she half seethed to herself. However, Tabitha took a hard swallow and returned the stare.

“Maybe… it’ll be better to go outside for this…” Jamila suggested and the three went out into the backyard. It was the same size as the front lawn, just enclosed with a tan wooden privacy fence. There was a playground set for the triplets and the lawn was neatly trimmed just like in the front. Jamila put a gentle hand on Tabitha’s shoulder, “You know… I wouldn’t ask…”

“I understand.” she nodded. Jamila looked at her husband.

“Her… powers are emotion-based right now. If she’ll let me run some tests, I can help her make them more manageable…” she switched glances from Albert to Tabitha. A hint of a smile appeared and then she looked straight ahead. She was controlling them much better than she had been in a month; back then, she had no idea what was going on. She still didn’t know exactly how she came to be; maybe it had something to do with the serum they injected inside of her. The only thing Tabitha was clear about was that the general had a lot to do with everything. That bastard; when I find him I’m gonna shock the hell outta him, she thought angrily. It was one thing to dump her in some odd, remote place; it was another to do so halfway across the state. She had no ID, no dog tags; there wasn’t anything on her to identify her. And then, she had no idea what everyone thought happened to her; for all she knew, her family and friends probably thought that she was halfway to Iraq or some other country by now. She didn’t understand how the Army would let the man get away with something like that…

The thoughts were beating her head up, giving her the start of a headache. She felt the pins and needles feeling erupt throughout her veins; very noticeable currents of electricity flowed all over her body. She felt the energy wanting to come out and before she could do anything, it pushed itself out of her hands. She was glad she had the good sense to throw her hands out, making the streams of lightning travel to the fence; the wood exploded on contact. Albert’s eyes widened at the large gap in the middle of the fence.

“Uh… I don’t think I’ll ever doubt you, again…” 

* * *

As the days turned into months, Tabitha became sort of a lab rat… as well as found out that Dr. Lindsey was not a doctor of medicine. But, she didn’t mind it; she was given a free roof over her head and free food to eat. All the tests that the professor was putting her through was for her own good; she was learning how to control her lightning ability as well as learning almost everything there was to know about lightning. In under a month, she was actually to a point where she didn’t have to tell herself to calm down or have a clear mind before she touched anyone or even let someone touch her. The eerie, electric, pins and needles feeling was still there, of course, but Tabitha was quickly learning to live with it. In a little under a year, Tabitha was able to even guide the lightning from her hands.

Because she basically lived in solitude, she felt like a freak. She wondered what good were her powers to begin with. She thought about the many things that required electricity and how she would be of help in that department. Other than that, she felt useless. As she sat back and watched the Lindseys go about their normal life, she could only wish that she was a part of one as well. She thought about calling her family, letting them know where she was and what happened. However, the more she thought about it, the more she thought against it. How would her family react to her transformation? She knew that her youngest brothers would marvel at her new abilities; the thought would make her smile ever so often. But her parents? She didn’t know how she would deal with their reaction.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the professor come in the house, calling her name. There was some excitement in her voice and Tabitha had hoped for some good news. While she was happy that she was able to control her powers, the two still had no solid idea as to how she came to be.

Jamila came into the kitchen just to see Tabitha idly fiddling with her lightning. Bolts and currents ran smoothly over her hand as she transferred them to the other.

“Tabs! Are you **trying** to scare my babies away from you?!” she half scolded.

“… sorry…” she mumbled, feeling more like one of the children. Jamila caught herself and sighed.

“No… no worries. I’m sorry; even after you being here for so long, I’m still used to yelling at the kids!”

“You treat your students like that?”

“Unfortunately. I get this look but then they see that I’m serious and I don’t get no more lip!” she laughed. As she sat down, she slightly studied Tabitha’s hair, “So, I got yelled at but it was worth it; I cancelled my last class so that I could do more research. That sample you gave me last week? Got a lot of new info on it today! Remember how we’ve been trying to dye your hair?”

“You’re gonna depress me, doc…” she remembered. Ever since finding out that Jamila used “Dr.” as a title, Tabitha got a kick out of simply calling her that, just as the professor only called her Tabs.

The one thing that stumped Tabitha wasn’t her new hair color… but the fact that it would not hold any type of chemical. She had refused to succumb to a wig in order for her to walk the streets normally and so Jamila suggested dying it. However, it proved that no matter how much dye, what color dye or even how potent it was, it would not so much as darken her snow white locks.

“My bad. At least it grows…” Jamila mentioned. The one thing that stayed constant was that her hair could at least grow. It grew faster than it had ever grown, being thick and shoulder length, “Anyway; I found out why your hair is white… somewhat.” she tried to finish. Tabitha stopped twirling a lock of her hair around her finger and looked at the professor.

“I’m listening…”

“I don’t know which one did it but one of the voltages you received was so high that… it stripped your hair of all its pigments. You ever seen an albino person?”

“… No.”

“… Really…?”

“I would remember seeing a white-haired person like that…” Tabitha noted. It was enough to make Jamila laugh. She got up to get the two something to drink.

“Albinos have no color pigments in their skin, their hair or their eyes. But, their hair don’t turn white, it’s like a… bleached blonde. So look at your hair in that sense; there’s no pigment to hold any type of chemical. Problem is… nothing else on you got stripped of pigment… which leads to the most important thing!” she sat back down, handing Tabitha a glass of orange juice.

“Promise me you’ll explain it in layman’s terms…” she eyed her. Tabitha’s favorite subjects in school were geography, history and art; her least favorite was science. Jamila sighed.

“The serum injected in you was made of certain components. Some were regular and basic but there may have been one or two that were new and unique; it had to be in order for the project to work. A couple of small jolts were needed to activate the new components but… I don’t think they had any clue as to what would happen if there was a higher voltage applied. I still don’t know which did it, the one that killed you or the one that revived you but it caused something amazing to happen!”

“My powers…”

“No. Well… yeah… but… something even more! A DNA strand; an **extra** DNA strand… do I have to explain what DNA is…?”

“I’m not that big of a damn rock, smart ass!” Tabitha laughed. Jamila smiled.

“You just don’t understand; I was getting really frustrated. Because, here I thought that it had something to do with your brain but there weren’t any abnormalities. Wyatt actually pointed it out to me…”

“Wyatt?”

“My best friend. He’s the DNA analyst; it’s what he went to school for. He thinks you’re a practical joke so… he wants to meet you in person…”

“… Okay…”

“And… I’m pretty sure he’s gonna want to get a fresh sample from you…”

“Doc! Really?!” her eyes widened.

“I’m sorry, Tabs. He told me that if you’re really real… he’s gonna need a fresh sample to see the status of the mutant strand. He sounded a bit concerned about someone having a second DNA strand…”

“… You think something bad is gonna happen to me…?” for the first time ever, Tabitha realized that her powers may not be a good thing, maybe even something deadly.

“I… no.” Jamila thought about her words, “There would’ve been some type of sign. The only thing that I know is that the strand is the reason for your powers. There’s so many possibilities of what that strand is going to do to you… but I don’t think it would hurt or kill you. Wyatt’s doing some research now so… if you want to go and meet him now, we can.” she tried to reassure. Tabitha shrugged.

“As much as I **don’t** wanna… let’s go.”

“Good! Albert should be home soon so we’ll leave when he gets here. I really wish that we could get a hold of that serum…”

“Why? So you could make more people like me?” it actually saddened Tabitha. Jamila blinked a couple of times and immediately shook her head.

“Hell no! I don’t like the fact that it was used to make human weapons of mass destruction. If anything, me and Wyatt would want to do some modifications, run some tests, and find better uses for it. If a huge voltage was enough to create its own DNA strand… that could make stem cell research obsolete! Okay; you’re home! The kids are playing in their rooms; me and Tabs are gonna go to the lab for a bit.” Jamila was already out of her seat, kissing her husband on the cheek. He switched glances from his wife to their roommate.

“Um… a breakthrough?”

“Sometimes I think she’s more scientist than professor!” she sighed and followed her new friend to her vehicle. 

* * *

“… Amazing. Simply amazing. I can’t believe she’s really real…” Wyatt half mumbled while still looking at Tabitha’s recent sample through an electron microscope. Tabitha was expecting to see the typical scientist, a pasty-faced man with thick glasses, adult acne and slightly socially inept. She was in complete awe still, even after gazing into the hazel sultry eyes of Dr. Wyatt Rivera. His skin was lightly bronzed as if he spent some time in the sun and muscles seemed to bulge out of his beige polo shirt. He looked awkward leaning his 6’6 frame low enough to look through the microscope but he didn’t complain.

“Just a friend, huh?” she mumbled low enough for Jamila to hear. She gave her a surprisingly sharp nudge before Wyatt turned around and looked at the two.

“I can’t tell you enough how amazing this really is. Every forensic analyst has always wanted to take a look at DNA like this. And, you’re giving me the honor to do so…” he smiled at Tabitha. She slightly blushed as Jamila rolled her eyes.

“You gonna hit on her or you gonna do some actual work?”

“I’ll hit on you…” he quickly drew his attention to his friend. She narrowed her eyes at him as he gave her an approving look. Tabitha’s eyes widened at the two but they both shared a laugh.

“What did you find out?”

“Kinda got some bad news for your friend. After looking at the old sample and this sample… it looks like this mutant strand is trying to fuse.”

“That… does sound bad. I thought you said that it wouldn’t hurt me?” Tabitha looked at Jamila, holding back tears.

“Hold on. Only reason why I say it’s kinda bad is… well, it depends on how you look at it. The human body simply can’t host two DNA strands; how your body is doing it is beyond amazing. Anyway; your mutant strand is starting to fight to be the only one. Once that happens, your powers will be permanent.  Bad news if you don’t want that to happen. It doesn’t look as if it’ll affect anything major.”

“How long does it look like it’ll take for the mutant strand to fuse?” Jamila asked for Tabitha.

“It’s fighting very slowly. Two years at the least? To be one hundred percent sure, she’ll have to give us samples almost every week.” the idea made her cringe.

“Can it be stopped?”

“I think I can come up with something that can reverse the process; make your original strand fight off the mutant strand…” he started to mumble and went to his workstation. Tabitha looked back at Jamila.

“So… if I do nothing, I’ll be like this forever. But, if he can find something and I give him the go ahead…”

“Looks like you’ll be back to normal. It’s your call, Tabs.”

“ **That’s** a no-brainer; I wanna be normal, again! Will it turn my hair back to normal?”

“Afraid not. From the looks of it and all that Mila’s told me, the color’s been totally stripped. But with the mutant strand gone, you’ll be able to dye it whatever color you want. If you ask me, though… that color suits your face.” he gave Tabitha an approving smile, making her blush again. Jamila glared at him.

“Would you stop molesting her!!” she warned. Wyatt gave her a shocked look and threw his hands up in defense.

“I haven’t touched her! Now, once she gives me permission…”

“It’s a miracle you’re still employed, pervert…” Jamila couldn’t hide her smile. She shook her head and slightly laughed, “So, when can we start working on this?”

“Are you two doing another experiment?” a guy’s voice made the three of them turn towards the door of the lab. Tabitha could tell that the guy wasn’t wanted; Jamila grabbed some random sheets of paper and headed towards the workstation, joining Wyatt as he made himself busy.

“Yes, Sean. And as always, you would want to join in?” Wyatt, now with a more professional tone asked. He hadn’t bothered to look up from his “work” as he asked. The intruder pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose and smiled a little. His attention went from the two professors to Tabitha and his smile grew. She suddenly felt uncomfortable and slightly shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“You know me too well, professor! Is this a new student? You’re a little late for the semester…”

“… Oh! Um… well…” she tried; she didn’t want to give him the blatant cold shoulder that the two professors had given him but then she never thought that he would speak to her.

“She’s my niece; she’s visiting from North Carolina.” Jamila stated without missing a beat.

“Hmm. Nice hair; is that a trend in North Carolina?” Sean asked her. He approached her and for a split second, Tabitha had the sudden urge to give him a small jolt; she was beginning to see why he was Jamila and Wyatt’s least favorite student. He looked at her as if she was the first female he had ever encountered and it was beginning to creep her out.

Jamila noticed the tension between the two first and abruptly stood between the two; as much as she secretly admitted that she would have liked to see his reaction from being shocked, she knew that it would probably be a bad idea!

“May I remind you that you’re not allowed in this lab after school hours? What is that you want?” she snapped. Sean cleared his throat and put his attention back to her.

“Extra credit, Dr. Linz…”

“I’m not handing out extra credit at this time. If you would’ve paid attention in class as much as you’re paying attention to my niece right now, you wouldn’t need to be here begging for extra credit. And I don’t believe that Dr. Rivera can help you out, either…” she added sternly when he turned to look at Wyatt.

“But… what about this experiment? If I can help…”

“Sorry, Sean but this experiment isn’t part of the school curriculum. It’s petty, anyway.”

“So, nothing to do with DNA testing or any applied physics?”

“Afraid not. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ve got some work to do here. Good evening, Sean.” Wyatt answered and went back to his papers. Sean gave Jamila a desperate look but she turned and rejoined Wyatt at the workstation.

“Tabitha, could you show Sean out?” she asked. Tabitha gave him a fake smile and led him out of the lab. He stared at her before she started to close the door. She shrugged.

“Sorry…” she apologized and closed the door. Sean stared at the door for a moment before making his way to the parking lot. As he started across the lot, he was abruptly pulled away and slammed against a building before he could even blink. He was about to scream until the guy’s hand covered his mouth.

“Sshh… quiet now. I won’t hurt you. You have some information that I want.” the man hissed. He slowly let his hand down but kept Sean painfully pinned to the building, “That white-haired girl. Know her?”

“N-n-n-n-n-n-n-not r-really. She’s from… North Carolina. T-t-t-the professor’s… niece.”

“Niece, huh?” the man chuckled at that thought, “Interesting. Did you get her name?” the guy suddenly wrapped his hand around Sean’s throat. He wheezed slightly.

“Tab-itha…”

“Very nice. I thank you for your information.” he smiled. Before he could do anything, Sean felt as if he had been split in half. As the currents faded from his hand, the man dropped the student, leaving him burnt and still smoking on the ground.


	4. Moving On

She didn’t know what to tell the children but she figured that whatever she would tell them, the outcome would be the same. They were going to be sad about the fact that Miss Tabitha had to leave. No amount of explaining would satisfy them about that fact. Jamila knew that she would have to promise them that Tabitha would come back to visit or they would take the time to go out and visit her. Chattanooga wasn’t **that** far away; they would be able to make a weekend out of it.

She had to admit that she was going to be sad as well; she had gotten so used to having Tabitha around. Nevertheless, it had been a year since she had seen her family and friends and Jamila made her promise that after the procedure she would have to swallow her pride and do so. Jamila was also excited that not only would the procedure let Tabitha be reunited with her family, but would also give her the opportunity to get some answers from the Army; they would probably track down the general who had her body dumped in Memphis as well. The two wanted to see justice served.

Jamila tried to push all of her thoughts aside as her children set the table and she pulled the garlic bread out of the oven. She slightly smiled as the thought came to her; Tabitha had become one of the family: along with the children and her husband, Jamila knew that Tabitha’s favorite meal was chicken, shrimp and broccoli Alfredo.

Tabitha looked at the clock on the nightstand and put her book on top of her small suitcase; it was already dinnertime. The Lindsey family had done so much for her; too much, she told herself. The professor didn’t have to put up room and board for the woman but she did. She didn’t have to take Tabitha shopping for clothes, buy her favorite snacks or cook her favorite meals but she did. And, she definitely didn’t have to spend countless hours of research on her “condition”, teach her how to better control her powers or even help Wyatt with the procedure that would make her normal again… but she did. Tabitha owed the older woman and her family a lot.

The smell of garlic bread made her smile as she made her way down the stairs. In the dining room, the table was nicely set and the children were neatly dressed, even sitting at the table waiting. The boys wore polo shirts and slacks while Solonia had on a very nice light green dress with matching bows in her hair. She slightly laughed at the scene.

“Special occasion, guys?”

“Momma said for us to dress nicely.” Solonia volunteered. Within the year that she had been there, Tabitha had grown to know each child’s personality… and was saddened that she would actually miss them the most.

Solonia was the voice of the triplets. If an explanation was needed, she was the one giving it, no matter how much trouble it landed the three in! She was somewhat of an enigma; she was a lady-like tomboy. She probably enjoyed wrestling more than her brothers did, and had no problem getting her hands dirty, picking up insects outside freely to her mother’s dismay. However, one look in her room and all one could see were dolls and cute stuffed animals. She was the oldest by two seconds and was named after Albert’s maternal grandmother.

A.C. was born next and he was the average 5 year old. He liked any and everything his father liked, staying true to the fact that he was named after him. Tabitha also saw that he was the bully out of the three; he especially took pleasure into teasing Jamil about who he was named after!

Jamil was last but definitely not least. He was usually quiet but when he spoke, he spoke his mind and would almost always get into trouble for it! He was also the smartest of the three; if Solonia or A.C. needed any type of help, they would seek him out first before the parents. Tabitha noticed that Jamila babied him the most but it was only because he suffered through some complications when he was born, almost not making it.

As she joined the three at the table, she almost laughed at the fact that even though they were 5, their mother still referred to them as babies; she knew that her friend would be hit in the heart pretty soon when the triplets would start kindergarten.

“I told you guys to dress nice, not dress like we’re going to church!” Jamila laughed a little as she placed the plates of food on the table, “Hey! Wait for your daddy!” she saw that they had picked up their forks and were about to dig in. Albert finally came from upstairs and sat at the table; the children immediately started to eat.

“Is it daddy’s birthday?” Jamil asked with his mouth full of food.

“Boy! Eat and then talk!” his father warned him. Jamila poured wine for the three adults and shook her head.

“You know it’s not daddy’s birthday, yet.” she answered as she sat down. She sighed and looked at her children, “Guys… you know how everyone has their own family, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh huh.”

“Right!” the children waited until they had swallowed their food before they responded.

“Well… Miss Tabitha has her own. And her family misses her a lot…”

“Momma… is Miss Tabitha… leaving…?” A.C. stopped eating his food and looked dead at Tabitha. The other two followed suit; Jamila took in a deep breath to keep her eyes from glistening like the children’s.

“Well, baby… she has to. Tonight, w…”

“She’s leaving tonight?!?!” Solonia yelled. She widened her eyes at the women and her lips started to quiver.

“Nooo!” Jamil cried. He immediately left his seat and grabbed a hold of Tabitha, determined to keep her there. The other two children did the same, crying out their pleas for her to stay. It was all a mother could take and her tears finally fell.

“No… she’s not leaving tonight…” Jamila tried.

“B-but… she’s leaving, soon…”

“Don’t make her leave! Daddy… tell momma not to make her leave!!”

“Don’t go, Miss Tabitha; we love you…” the three children cried. She had been through boot camp, training for her job and drill sergeant school. Anyone else in her current condition would have immediately cracked but not her. However, not once did she ever think that a bunch of 5 year olds would tear at her heart strings the way the Lindsey children were doing at the moment. She looked over at the parents for help; she wasn’t used to this… at all. Unfortunately, they weren’t of any help as the mother covered her mouth to keep from sobbing and the father, who never showed much emotion, was fighting his own tears. Tabitha quickly wiped at the couple of tears that fell from her eyes and hugged the children back.

“Hey… it’s okay…” she cleared the shakiness from her voice and smiled down at them, “I’ll be back. I’m only gonna be gone for a little while.” she had made up her mind; after that display, who could stay away from them for long? They loved her; and all that time, Tabitha just thought that they looked at her as a grownup playmate. After hearing their cries and honest pleas, she knew what she had to do.

“R-really? Y-you mean that?” Jamil continued to cry. The three were looking at her and she took the time to wipe at their tears.

“I promise. I’ve been away from my mom and dad and brothers for a long time… and I know that they miss me and want to see me. But… it’ll only be for a short time. Before you know it, we’ll be back here, watching Randy Orton and Batista and… the Caretaker…” she actually hoped she had gotten the wrestler’s name right. The sudden outburst of laughter told her that she didn’t.

“The **Undertaker**!” Solonia continued to laugh. Tabitha laughed along with them and hugged them tighter.

“Alright… no more tears! We gotta eat before our food gets cold.” she continued. The three wiped at their remaining tears, nodded and went back to their seats. As the children and Tabitha continued to eat, Jamila and Albert could do nothing but stare at Tabitha. More tears made their way down the professor’s cheeks as she realized what Tabitha had decided.

“Tabs…” was all she could say. The young woman looked at her.

“If you tell me that I can’t come back to live with you guys… I’m gonna really cry…” she calmly mentioned as her eyes misted up once more. Three pairs of eyes shot up from their plates and looked at their mother in angst.

“Don’t…” a whine had started from A.C. Jamila switched glances from her children to her husband, who took her hand and squeezed it; it was all the approval that she needed. She gave Tabitha a smile.

“Tabs… you’re family, now; how can I say no?” 

* * *

With all the excitement in so little time, the children were in the bed and asleep in record time. For the first time, Tabitha was the one to tuck them in and give them goodnight kisses, per their demand. She was glad for it; as she finished tucking in the boys, Tabitha found out that plans had been altered; Wyatt wanted to do the procedure that night. With his best friend’s help, he was able to finish whatever concoction he needed to make sure that Tabitha would return back to normal.

Another thing that she was thankful for; the professor did not try to explain the procedure in vast detail like she wanted to. It wasn’t that Tabitha didn’t care; her main objective was that she was cured and life for her could get back to normal. Instead of talking about the procedure, the two talked about other random things.

“How’d you meet Wyatt?” she blurted out as they made their way to the college. Everyone was used to Wyatt and Jamila using the lab after hours and no one would question anything that they were doing.

The question made Jamila laugh a little.

“We went to the same college.”

“You two are really close…” it made her blush slightly. She didn’t mind that the very attractive professor blatantly flirted with her… it was the fact that he also blatantly flirted with Jamila and she would always calmly brush it off, “You don’t have a problem with him… flirting with me, do you…?” she continued. It was enough for Jamila to glance at her with widened eyes.

“Wait, are you trying to say…” it made her immediately laugh, “Tabs, I’m married; happily married! Okay… I do have a problem with him flirting with you… but I have a problem with Wyatt flirting, period!”

“… Why…?”

“He’s a great friend; he’s my best friend. But, ‘Rico Suave’ is gonna get himself into a lot of trouble, again, if he keeps flirting with every woman he sees!”

“… ‘Again’?” Tabitha raised an eyebrow at her.

“… I may or may not have been responsible for him getting his hand broke the very first time we met…” she put her attention back to the road. Tabitha raised both eyebrows at her.

“What did you do?!”

“We were in the computer room one day. I had never seen him before until that day. Here I am, trying to study, stressing out, **pregnant** and I felt someone’s hand on my back! They’re moving their hand to my shoulder and… let’s just say that I surprised the both of us…”

“Oh, dear Lord… what happened?!”

“Well… I know Aikido…”

“You know martial arts?”

“Yeah…”

“I would have never guessed that…” Tabitha slowly shook her head. When she put two and two together, her eyes widened and shot another look at the professor, “Doc!!”

“What?! He had it coming! Heard the snaps before I realized what I had done… he was lucky it was his non-writing hand!”

“Remind me to never get on your bad side…”

“Anyway! What I didn’t know was that he was very popular at Columbia, especially with the females. Oh, he told anyone who cared to listen that I broke his hand for no reason!”

“Oh, no…”

“Yeah; never mind I’m pregnant with triplets! So, I either had to go and apologize or face the wrath of a million heifers!”

“You apologized?”

“Hell, no! I told him off! I told him he got what he deserved messing with me like that! Do you know what that nutcase said to me? ‘You were stressed, you’re pregnant; I was trying to be nice and give you a massage’!” Jamila did her best impersonation of Wyatt. The women roared with laughter. Jamila sighed, “Well, he kept bugging the shit outta me for the rest of the semester… to the point where I got used to it. I think I’m the only one who’s never even kissed him; we’ve been friends ever since.” she finished. Tabitha smiled and nodded; it was like that for herself and her best friend, Tony… except without the breaking of any bones! He was the new transfer student in the 7 th grade and she helped him find his way around the school. She was adamant about sticking with him; she found him very interesting because of his northern accent… as well as being the cutest guy who ever had spoken to her at the time!

Jamila parked her vehicle and the two got out, heading towards the lab. She didn’t know if the professor had felt it but Tabitha did; there was something odd about the air around the building. Jamila took her phone out to let Wyatt know that they were outside when Tabitha saw it; the door to the building was hanging off of its hinges. She immediately grabbed the professor.

“W-what?” she blinked. Tabitha nodded towards the door, “What the hell…”

“Something ain’t right. Doc… stay behind me.” she warned. As much or as little martial arts training the professor had, Tabitha knew that her powers would easily prevail. The two quietly but swiftly went inside the building and was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of burnt flesh. Both knew the unwanted, familiar smell and started to run through the building.

She wasn’t used to being so fast; she had missed it until she heard Jamila gasp.

“… No… Wyatt!!” Jamila found his charred body in the middle of the lab. Tabitha got into the room just in time to stop Jamila from touching the body. She leaned down, covering her nose and mouth; his body was still smoking. When she carefully touched him, she felt it; it was as if some of the voltage transferred to her body. She looked back at Jamila who was in tears.

“Doc… he’s been electrocuted…”

“W-what? But… how…” she was interrupted by a noise from outside. Tabitha perked up.

“Stay here.”

“Tabs…”

“Whoever did this to Wyatt, I can handle them… you can’t…” she looked dead at her. Jamila could only nod as Tabitha left. She tried her best to look everywhere in the building but found nothing. She made her way outside hoping that whoever killed Wyatt wouldn’t go back in the building. She was lucky; she saw someone making their way across the campus grounds. She gave chase and almost froze up. It was a man, she knew by the toned muscles. His hair was cropped short… and was as pure white as her own, “Hey! Stop right there!” she yelled at the guy. She was surprised when he stopped.

Tabitha was about to turn him around until he turned to face her. She took an immediate step back.

“I was wondering how long it was going to take you to catch up to me… Tabby…”

“… Tony! W-what…” she was at a loss for words. He gently grabbed a strand of her hair and examined it.

“I missed you. I was so worried about you.” he looked at her. She was still speechless. After all that time, why did he finally look for her, “Nothing to say, hmm? You know, I thought you were dead; we all did. But, General First told us that you were okay; that when you recovered, you would be deployed overseas. He saw how the… accident improved you greatly, more than the initial process. So, he made a few adjustments; asked me did I want to be the first to try it out.” Tony started explaining. Tabitha looked at him fully and shook her head.

“He lied. Tony, I died…”

“I know. But you were revived.”

“N-no… he dumped me in that damn alley! To cover up the fact that I was killed!!” she tried to reason with him. However, Tony slowly shook his head at her. He got a hold of more hair in his hand and yanked her hard towards him.

“Oh, Tabitha… he knew that you say that. He told me that you would lie to me… just to cover up the fact that you went AWOL.” he said. She widened her eyes at him despite his firm grip on her hair.

“ **What?!** I don’t know what that bastard did to you; you **know** I would never go AWOL!” she quickly explained.

“Doesn’t matter, anymore. Seeing how you roasted those bums, someone had to capture you before you really got out of hand. So… we’ll be on our way, now. Oh… and please tell your professor friend to not do anything stupid…” he stopped looking at her. Her attention went from his face to his stretched out arm, almost pulsating with energy. He forced her to turn and she was looking in the terrified eyes of the professor.

“Doc; I told you to stay put!!”

“I… I couldn’t…” she shook with fear. She couldn’t let her face the guy alone, regardless of what powers he possessed. Tabitha was her family now and she wanted to make sure that she wasn’t harmed.

“Stop this, Tony! I ain’t going nowhere!”

“Oh, but you will. Because I don’t think you want her to end up like her colleague in the lab… right?” he smiled. She couldn’t explain it; it was one thing to threaten her… but he was threatening the professor. Had it not been for her, Tabitha would still be in that alley, freaking out over her powers. She owed Jamila and her family a lot… and she was about to willingly save her.

Something came over her. Before she had time to think about it, Tabitha placed her hands on Tony’s stomach and let her lightning flow out, sending him flying a few feet away. He immediately got up but kept his smile, even laughing a little.

“I see. I didn’t come here to fight, Tabby. I wanted to do this the easy way. But… seeing that you’re willing to fight…” he quickly charged towards her. She was taken aback at how quick he was until she realized what the initial procedure was supposed to do: increased speed, increased stamina… increased strength. It was no wonder she was able to go through the building faster.

She sidestepped him right before he plowed into her. She kicked him in the back and was slightly astonished that she applied her lightning ability to her feet; something that she wasn’t trying to do. The force of the kick sent him flying but she knew that he would recover quickly; she took a military stance and waited for his next attempt of an attack. He laughed at her yet again.

“I don’t wanna fight you, Tony but you ain’t giving me much of a choice!”

“You’re really set on defending that professor, huh? You know that the two of them were just gonna take a sample of your blood and reproduce you, right?” he came after her once more. He attempted a punch but she grabbed his arm and held it across his own neck.

“You fucking liar! You killed Wyatt for nothing! They were trying to help me; you actually think I wanna be like this?! I don’t!!” she applied pressure towards his neck with every word. Tony grabbed her arm and shocked her as much as he could, making her immediately let go. It was painful for sure, she realized. However, she noticed that the only thing it did was surprise her; it felt to her that she actually absorbed his electricity.

As she let go of him, she felt a sharp blow to her stomach; he had kicked her. Before she could recover, he landed a hard punch to her face, sending her to the ground.

“Tabitha!!” she heard the professor scream. She knew that she would try to come to her rescue and wanted to tell her to stay put. However, she felt his foot on her neck, holding her in place as well as hindering her voice.

“Enough playing around. I have my orders and they won’t be ignored. Besides; why **wouldn’t** you want to remain like this? Well… seeing that I’m stronger than you right about now, it’s understandable…” he actually taunted her. Tabitha awkwardly tried to reach for his foot but Tony was quicker; he immediately grabbed her hand. Even with her trying to shock him, he only flinched but never let go of her hand. With a precise and hard squeeze, he instantly broke her hand, smiling as she yelled out in pain, “Don’t make me break the other one, Tabby…”

She couldn’t take it anymore. Not thinking, Jamila ran towards the two as fast as she could and launched at Tony, pushing him off of Tabitha. She blindly started to throw punches, some missing their intended target, others hitting him in the back of his head.

“Get off of her; leave her alone!! What did she do to you; what did Wyatt ever do to you?!?!” she yelled with each throw, tears streaming down her face. She wasn’t there to save her best friend, she was going to do something to save her new one.

Annoyed, he growled and flipped the professor off of his back. He wrapped his hand tightly around her throat, narrowing his eyes at her as she tried to pry his hand away. He easily picked her up, lifting her off the ground.

“You shouldn’t have done that, professor! I had no intentions of killing you but you’ve given me no other choice…”

“N-no… **STOP**! Put her down…” Tony looked towards Tabitha. She was still on the ground, holding her broken hand in pain, “I’ll… I’ll go… just, don’t…” her voice squeaked out. She was surprised when he started to laugh and the professor started gasping for air.

“It’s too late, my dear…” he turned his attention back to his captive. She flinched as he started to apply more pressure on top of the small shocks he gave her; he wanted to make sure that Tabitha watched as he slowly killed the professor.

Watching him torture her new friend, something inside of Tabitha snapped. Her vision blurred. Even as Tony noticed that his powers were giving out, it didn’t stop Tabitha from blacking out. Her mind had left her but her body reacted. Tony looked over as Tabitha made her way towards the two and a sliver of fear crept up his spine. Her usual glimmer from her eyes had disappeared; they were empty… and full of rage. Before he could apply all of his powers to the professor’s neck, they quickly diminished. He was in need of a refill of the serum; he hadn’t told Tabitha the whole truth: while the general **did** improve the serum and the procedure, the effects still wore out. He had taken too long to apprehend his former best friend.

Tony dropped the professor and decided to make a run for it; there was no way he would be any match to an enraged mutant. He was stopped short as the professor gathered up the little strength that she had left, got up and gave him an elbow to the face. Surprised, he fell to the ground and looked at her.

“That’s for fucking with my family…” she panted out.

“You… bitch…” he started. However, he had completely forgotten that someone was after him. He was brought down roughly and was staring into the voided brown eyes of his former best friend, “T-Tabby…” was the last words she let him speak; her hands immediately wrapped around his neck, applying as much pressure and lightning as she could. With the serum depleted, he was back to normal… and very vulnerable to her powers. Jamila watched in fear as his screams became gargled and his body slowly charred. However Tabitha heard none of it; she was still enraged and continued to electrocute him.

As the smell of burnt flesh entered the air, she finally stopped her attack on him. Out of breath, she glared down at the charred remains of her best friend… and finally snapped out of her enraged state. She slowly got up, still looking at the corpse… and immediately felt remorse. She knew what happened… and couldn’t stop it. She didn’t want to really think about it, as she glanced over at the professor.

“You okay…?”

“I… I should be asking you that…” she had seen the look in the young woman’s eyes as she quickly… and mercilessly killed the man; there wasn’t anything anyone could have done to prevent it short of dying themselves.

“… let’s get the hell outta here…”

Jamila suffered a badly sprained elbow while Tabitha suffered a broken hand… and a sprained heart. She vaguely recalled all of the details after she blacked out but there was no need for the details; she had snapped and killed her best friend. She asked herself constantly if she had a choice and remembered that she really didn’t; he was about to kill the professor. The one person who showed that she really cared about her; Tabitha was not going to let that happen. A life taken to save another… but was it really justice; was it really fair? All she knew was that Tony Williams had been brainwashed… and the one thing that she remembered him saying was that his orders would be carried out. She may had been the motivated one but he was the determined one; even brainwashed, she knew that once he was given an order, he would carry it out to the end. Dead or alive… Tabitha would’ve been apprehended.

There was no covering up his death; the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command was called to investigate it after she informed the police about his body. Once interviewed, she told the entire story. Maybe it was for the best; if she was locked up, she wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. Then again, with her telling every single detail, especially about the general, there was a slight smile that wanted to show knowing that Operation Recharge would be discontinued and he would be put away as well.

The door opening surprised Jamila and she immediately ran to hug her friend. Tabitha smiled as she returned the hug.

“Tabs! So… this means… you’re not being charged?”

“Nope. Thing is, all this talk about ‘Operation Recharge’ is bigger than what I’ve done.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It was illegal… right from the start. They’ve actually been trying to track that general down. And… in response to my cooperation, I will not be charged with any criminal wrongdoing…” she straightened her face out and looked at the professor seriously. Jamila laughed and gave her another tight hug. The two went into the kitchen and sat down at the table, “Bad news is… they’re kicking me out.”

“Oh, no Tabs…” she wanted to cry. Getting to know her over the year, she knew that the woman wanted to make a career out of the military. She felt that once the procedure was done to rid her of the mutant strand and everything was fully explained, that she would be welcomed back in.

“It’s okay. I’m getting an honorable discharge. Kinda sucks but… General First will be going to the stockade.” she finished. The professor raised an eyebrow at her and Tabitha laughed, “The brig.” she remembered that Jamila was a former Marine’s wife.

“… How’s your hand?” she stared at Tabitha’s cast around her right hand. She traced the contours of the cast and slightly smiled.

“Actually… it doesn’t hurt anymore. Stopped hurting the other day. Don’t even throb, either… is that normal?”

“… No. Weird…”

“Hmm… lucky I’m left-handed, huh?”

“I guess so…” Jamila was still stuck on what she was just told. She wasn’t a medical doctor… but she knew that only after a couple of days after breaking any type of bone, people would still have some pain. It was obvious that Tabitha possessed other super abilities (she was inhumanly fast, as witnessed during the ordeal at the school); maybe her fast healing was one of them. It made her realize the obvious, “Tabs… you know that I’ve taught you everything that I know… right?”

“Yeah.” she sighed. She knew that this conversation was coming. Now that Wyatt was dead, it seemed as though all hope was lost as far as finding a cure, “There’s… gotta be others who can help me… right?” she actually wanted the thought to stay to herself.

“I was… actually just thinking the same thing. You know… Wyatt and I graduated from the same college; Columbia offers a great DNA analyst program…” she tried to hint out. Tabitha slowly nodded but then suddenly looked at the professor.

“What; you’re telling me to go to college…? And, where is Columbia, exactly?”

“New York. Now… you know I would never ask you to leave. I’m just suggesting that you could learn more there. I don’t know any other DNA analysts who would be able to help… Wyatt was the only one…” she held back her tears. She took a deep breath and looked at the young woman, “I know you wanna be normal, again. This may be your last chance…” she finished. Tabitha knew that she was right; she did still want to become normal, again. Maybe in two years she would either learn enough to help Dr. Lindsey come up with the antidote or become good friends with someone who would be willing to help.

“I guess you’re right. You’d never tell me anything wrong…”

 

* * *

The Lindsey parents and their children stood inside of the bus depot along with Tabitha. She bent down and let the children hug her.

“Are you sure you coming back, Miss Tabitha?” Jamil eyed her. She laughed and hugged him tighter.

“Of course! I’ll be back for all the holidays so don’t cry. I have to go to school… just like you guys are about to.” she tried to cheer them up. She gave them one last squeeze and turned her attention to their parents. Albert, forever the Marine, stood straight-faced as his wife dabbed at the corners of her eyes, a sign that Tabitha knew meant she was trying to keep her tears from falling. She sighed, “Doc… don’t do this…” she warned.

“I know, I know; I’m sorry! I can’t help it; I’m gonna miss you, Tabs!” she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Tabitha gave her a huge hug.

“I just… I just wanna say that if it wasn’t for you, Jamila… I’d probably still be in that alley. I owe you so much for that. I’m gonna miss you, too…” she half-whispered. She couldn’t cry in front of the children although their mother was making it very difficult not to. She stopped hugging her and smiled, “I still don’t know how you got me enrolled…”

“Don’t worry about it; just know that you’re gonna be a student!” Jamila sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Tabitha nodded a bit and looked at the professor’s husband.

“Good riddance, huh?” she asked him. He smiled to her surprise.

“I never thought that. For my kids to get so attached to you so fast… you’re good in my book! Good luck, Tabitha; we’ll see you soon.” he surprised her yet again by giving her a hug. She picked up her only bag and started walking towards the door leading to the gates.

“Oh, Tabs, wait; I almost forgot!” the professor ran up to her. She handed her an ID card, “Your new life.” she smiled. Tabitha looked down at the driver’s license and looked at Jamila.

“A new ID?”

“Yeah. Don’t need people probing into your past. When I enrolled you, I changed your last name; you needed an ID to fit it.” she explained. Tabitha took another look at the ID and noticed the change in the last name: Lindsay.

“Wait… how’d you do this…”

“I wasn’t always teaching physics; that’s all you need to know! Now, don’t miss your bus!” the professor winked and hurried her out the door. Tabitha could only glance at her for a moment and then head to her designated gate. She took her seat and looked out the window as the Lindseys watched the bus pull out of the terminal. Tabitha waved until she could no longer see them, finally letting a tear drop down her cheek. She studied her new Tennessee driver’s license.

“You were right… the good ol’ doc took care of me…” she whispered and settled in for the long ride.


	5. A New Life

She stretched as the bus came to its final stop in New York. She was relieved that the almost two-day trip was over and vowed to never travel by bus again! She grabbed her bag and rushed to the nearest restroom to wash up and adjust her head wrap; seeing that Tabitha wasn’t able to dye her hair and wigs were out of the question, she adapted the trending fashion statement (she had no clue as to **why** it was a fashion statement but she would not question something that worked out) of wrapping a t-shirt around her hair and securing in in the back in a tight bun-like ball.

After quickly freshening up, Tabitha followed Jamila’s instructions to a tee, hauling a cab to get to Columbia University’s dorm rooms. She had no trouble finding her room and wasn’t a bit surprised to see that she had a roommate. The girl, however, was definitely surprised to see her! Her sparkling blue eyes almost bore into Tabitha’s soul as she ran her hand through her long blond hair. She was as slim as Tabitha, showing her frame in short shorts and a tank top. Typical, she almost didn’t hide her smirk.

“Hmm… you’re my new roomie?” she almost rolled her eyes.

“Yeah. Tabitha.” she stuck her hand out, anyway. Her right hand was completely healed and the cast was removed the day before she got on the bus in Memphis. There are some benefits to these powers after all, she had thought to herself.

The girl made a slight face but shook Tabitha’s hand, anyway.

“Samantha… but don’t call me Sam; I absolutely **hate** that!” she dramatically rolled her eyes yet again. Was she an actress, Tabitha wondered and kept her snickers to herself. She already devised a plan to call the girl “Sam” every chance she got, just to get under the girl’s skin; what could she do to Tabitha?

However, she shook that devious plan out of her head and cracked a smile.

“Oh? Okay… what about Sammie?” she asked. Samantha thought for a moment and then laughed.

“No one’s ever thought to call me that! I actually like that.” she saw that Samantha’s attitude seemed to have changed instantly, “Wow; that’s a pretty strong accent! Where are you from?”

“… Memphis.” she thought back to her new ID.

“Aw… a country girl! How sweet! First time in the big city?” she asked casually, plopping down into her bed. It made Tabitha wince; she knew that Samantha wasn’t truly making fun of her: she was just tired of the typecasting of southern people not used to “big city life”. She accidentally huffed.

“Actually… Memphis is the biggest city in the state of Tennessee. So, no; this isn’t my first time in a big city. Let me guess; you’re from here…”

“No… L.A.” the girl answered, a bit let down from being corrected. It was almost enough to make Tabitha laugh but she decided against it. What was really important was for Tabitha to hunt down the showers and get clean. As she dug into her bag for toiletries, underwear and clothes, she had hoped that no one would be in there to see her.

“L.A., huh? Long way from home…”

“I needed a change of pace. What about you?”

“Hmm… same thing. Plus, electric engineering study is the best here.” she decided not to tell the entire truth. She remembered the professor telling her about Columbia’s engineering program and hinted that maybe she would like to go for a masters; however, her main objective was going to be genetic studies, “Well… I really need to get a shower.”

“Okay…” Samantha shrugged. When she left the room, she let out a huge sigh and headed down the hallway to the bathrooms.

It took an hour, making sure that no one would walk in on her but she felt refreshed as ever. The thought of sharing showers with the other females in the dorm made Tabitha decide that she would have to get out of the dorms as soon as possible; she couldn’t risk having one of the girls walking in on her as she was washing her hair; the questions would probably be insurmountable. Then again, it was New York, she tried to reason: would anyone **really** question why she had dyed her hair the color of snow? As she made her way back to her room, she shrugged the thought out of her head.

Tabitha found her new roommate on her phone but looking at her with bright eyes.

“I’ll call you back; I need to talk to my new roomie.” she announced and hung up, “While you were cleaning up… which took forever… I happen to notice that you only have one bag.” those piercing blue eyes bore into her yet again. She really wants me to give her a good jolt, Tabitha thought but shrugged as she sat down on her bed.

“I like to carry light.” she answered and fought laughter. She wrapped the damp towel tighter around her head and started unpacking.

“Well, you’re going to need a lot more than that to get by here.” Samantha almost turned her nose up. Thank you, Captain Obvious, Tabitha made sure she didn’t see the scoff she gave off, “Where’s your laptop and phone and…”

“I couldn’t carry all that on the bus. My… sister is gonna send that to me.” she didn’t lie about that; Jamila told her that it would be much easier for her to send her whatever she needed through the mail: all of her necessities were being shipped practically overnight.

“What about clothes?” she continued. Tabitha looked over her shoulder at the girl.

“Nosy much? Yes; along with my laptop and phone, she’s sending me most of my clothes!” she almost snapped. It was enough to silence the girl and Tabitha went back to putting her things in the empty dresser.

“… What was up with that thing around your head earlier…?”

“I don’t have any hair…” she almost growled. She admitted that it was funny and turned to look at Samantha’s face expression. She could do nothing but blink at Tabitha and she started laughing, “It’s a little trend going on in the south. Guess you can call it my signature look…”

“Hmm. Sorry for all the questions. I just… never met any…” she paused. It made Tabitha stop what she was doing and look dead at her, almost wide-eyed.

“Black people…?” she tried. Samantha widened her eyes and burst into laughter.

“No! I’ve never met any southern people before! Really?!” she continued to laugh. Tabitha joined her.

“Sorry…”

“It’s okay! You know what; I like you. Want to go get something to eat? My treat, since you’re new and all.”

“… Sure. That’ll be nice.”

 

* * *

She didn’t expect to enjoy college life as much. Tabitha always thought that she wasn’t smart enough; one of the reasons why she decided to go into the military right after high school. She had told herself that she would eventually go, maybe to a community college first to get her used to taking courses. However, even that small idea was scary to her.

She had always seen how college life was betrayed in movies (she was a huge movie buff; there wasn’t anything else that interested her back home) but knew that a lot of times, it was far from the truth. She knew that the classes would be hard, there would be little time to study and there would not be a party going on every hour! However, as she started to get used to things, Tabitha discovered that she didn’t mind the classes at all. Grant it, she was going through the first half of her freshman year and all of her courses were a part of the core curriculum, it gave her a taste of what was to come.

Befriending Samantha had proven to be a good move as well (much better than her idea of giving her slight shocks in her sleep); the blond was a very popular sophomore and introduced her to several groups of people. They were instantly drawn to her t-shirt head wrap and her southern twang. She had gone from isolated to very sociable in a little over a year and a half.

She didn’t lose focus on her initial agenda, however. While she wasn’t scheduled any classes pertaining to DNA study until possibly her sophomore year, it didn’t stop her from researching. She had to get an early start; she had less than two years to find a cure. The one thing that she was glad for was that she was taking biology; she had found others who were also interested in becoming geneticists and molecular biologists (she figured early that Dr. Lindsey had dumbed it down for her, calling Wyatt a DNA analyst instead of what he really was: a geneticist). They had actually taken a liking to her theory of a mutant DNA strand and worked with her as far as studying.

The one thing that she was really glad for was that her classes and research were interesting enough to try to keep her mind off of how the city of New York was. She knew that crime was everywhere however movies did not do the city any justice. She knew that the university had already lost at least five of their students to violent crimes in her first semester alone; Tabitha really wanted nothing to do with New York’s night life!

She had hit a brick wall with her other researchers as far as the DNA study. It was for the best; they all had to think about what was more important: their actual studying. Tabitha fell in love with the fine arts class she was taking; modern art. With a lot of practice and studying, she eventually learned how to control the degree of her lightning ability; her second semester found her creating artistic, abstract works of her own: she had learned how to weld using her powers. Their assignments were supposed to be simple projects however Tabitha wanted to push herself. Her art pieces soon became all the rave at the university, with even the fine arts professors wondering how she designed the pieces with so little time and with the illusion of the smoothness they gave out. To prove that she wasn’t simply buying the pieces from an art store, they made her construct a small piece of art in front of everyone, using only simple tools. No one was the wisest as to how she actually did it… but no one ever questioned her, again.

While her roommate was out and about as usual for the weekend, Tabitha decided to stay in her room to catch up on some studying and come up with a design for her next art project. She was satisfied with thirty minutes of studying and decided to go ahead and start work on her design. She had learned from the very first time that although she had abilities, it was very painful to handle heated metal; Tabitha put on her insulated gloves, grabbed one of the various metal rods she kept handy and began to work her magic. The currents flowed even through the gloves, and the rod immediately gave way. She started to bend it easily and added another rod. Before long, she had molded the two rods into a small frame of an unfinished home that reached her ankles.

Studying the beginning of her masterpiece, she realized what her subconscious was trying to do. She missed her home in Chattanooga. Tabitha had yet to call her family to let them know that she was okay. She had been putting it off, especially now that she was really busy with school; she hadn’t even called Jamila as much.

She let out a sigh and mentally made a promise to herself; as soon as she had found the antidote to her mutant strand, she would give her parents a call. In the meanwhile, she decided against making something **that** personal and began to reshape the frame into something abstract. Tabitha had forgotten how she could lose herself in her work, only concentrating on the piece that she was working on and nothing else. It was actually hard work; she had to make sure that she applied just the right amount of lightning to her elements. Before she knew it, sweat was dripping from her face. She quickly grabbed a towel to wipe her brow but immediately yelped as she felt the sharp tinge on her forehead.

“Aw, shit!!” she threw the hot towel almost across the room. She continued to curse herself mentally for being so careless. That was when it dawned on her. How did the towel travel so far? She looked at it and expected for it to be seared or at least in pieces but it was still intact. She took her gloves off and picked up the towel to examine it; the cotton material was a bit coarser. She poked at the coarsest part and saw that it was very sturdy, “Hmm…” she started to wonder. What made the towel not burn but actually become tougher? She sat down and tried to think what that towel had gone through. Nothing out the ordinary, she realized. It was the same towel that she had used earlier that day to dry her hair; because of the thickness of her hair, the towel had still been a bit damp.

She widened her eyes at the towel as she remembered something that she had read a couple of weeks ago. Water was an excellent conduit for lightning. Well, not all water, she reminded herself. The thought sidetracked her a bit; that meant that the water used in the building wasn’t pure. She made a disapproving face but perked back up. That’s not important, Tabby, she told herself.

Forgetting about her project, she rushed out the room and to the bathroom. She doused the towel, made sure that no one was around and applied the same amount of electricity she did whenever she welded. Just as she suspected, the towel didn’t go up in flames or even burn but immediately dried up. She waited for the towel to cool off before grabbing it and running back to the room. She used all of her strength to tear the towel but it didn’t rip.

“… Whoa…” she marveled at the new creation. The towel had not only held her electrical surge; it was indestructible. 

* * *

She had immediately bragged about yet another extraordinary use for her powers to Jamila and she suggested to experiment with all types of fabric. Cotton was, by far, the best material however Tabitha found out that she was able to make any material indestructible. She had to put her “hobby” to the side to prepare for a special project: the best of Columbia’s art students were being featured in a local article for The Daily Bugle, a well-known newspaper. Her professor had volunteered Tabitha immediately and stressed that she make her best design. She decided on a structure that represented the Lindsey family.

A reporter from The Daily Bugle made her way on campus with her photographer as the art students laid their pieces on display by the main fountain. While Tabitha was doing the finishing touches on her iron structure, she felt someone standing behind her.

“Very impressive.” she heard the guy say. She took her protective goggles off, looked back and smiled at him. There wasn’t really anything impressive about the dark brown-haired guy except for the fact that he was showing a true interest in the statue. His blue eyes were even unnoticeable through his glasses.

“Thank you.”

“It’s a family… isn’t it?”

“How’d you know?” she was actually shocked. The guy pointed towards one of the perfect curves in the statue.

“That curve right there; it looks like an arm. And those three squiggly lines…” it made Tabitha laugh a bit; they **did** look like squiggly lines, “The curve is supporting them. That’s a mother and her children. This other curve…” he pointed to the bulky one that seem to hover above the four, “That’s the father. He’s protecting them.”

“Wow! You’re good!”

“Well… not as good as this. Do you mind… if I put in a good word for this to be the cover for the article?” he asked. That was when she noticed the camera that dangled from his neck; he was the photographer from The Daily Bugle.

“R-really? No shit?!” she let the words slip out. She covered her mouth quickly but the guy laughed.

“It’s okay! Pretty sure I’m old enough to hear that!” he said. The guy stuck his hand out, “I’m Peter, by the way. Peter Parker.”

“Tabitha Ly… Lindsay.” the two shook hands.

“So… you sculpted this all by yourself?”

“Yeah. I’m not done, actually. Just one more small adjustment…” she already put her goggles back on and secured a metal rod at the bottom of the statue. Seconds later, she stood back to admire and mentally critique her work.

“Wow; this is a beautiful piece!” a woman in a light grey two piece suit approached them; Tabitha figured that she was the reporter, “What does it represent?” she asked. Tabitha studied the statue once more before turning to the woman with a smile.

“… Family.”

* * *

She rushed out of the school’s bookstore, heading towards the cafeteria. She had hoped that she had gotten there before they stopped serving food; if not, it looked as if fast food would be in her near future yet again. It was a hard task for her to not show off her enhanced ability of speed and Tabitha sadly decided that she would just have to walk normally and hope she made it in time. She mentally promised herself that she wouldn’t starve herself ever again for the sake of being on time for classes.

“Hey… Tabitha?” she heard a familiar voice. She turned and saw Peter walking towards her.

“Hey, P! What’s up, buddy?” she smiled. The picture he had taken of her statue was indeed the feature photo; her popularity was on the rise.

“Glad I ran into you! I wanted to thank you for letting me take a picture of your sculpture.”

“Oh… isn’t that part of your job…?”

“I’m freelance so I only get paid by how great the photos are. Which… you may have landed me a permanent job…”

“Really?”

“The Daily Bugle would like to have a different sculpture from you every month. It’s not guaranteed that it would be used for the cover of the arts section each time but… you’d be compensated, regardless. Would you be interested?” he asked. She no longer was worried about getting to the cafeteria on time.

“Whoa… wow! That’s… that’ll be great! Wait… will this benefit you, too?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I’ll do it. You came all this way to tell me that?”

“Oh… I’m a student here, too. Just part time, though.”

“Let’s see; a freelance photographer and a student… only met you twice and you keep amazing me! Say… wanna join me for a late lunch?” she asked. Peter looked at his watch and slightly frowned.

“If you’re talking about the cafeteria, then I’m afraid it’s too late…”

“Damnit! Well… want some Burger King…?”

“Is this your first time in New York?” he eyed her. She nodded, “Then, I have a better idea!”

The two took their seats in a local diner and ordered their food. She took a sip out of her soda and looked out the window to watch everyone walking by.

“So many people…” she thought she said it low enough for only herself to hear it. Peter looked on as well and smiled.

“Not used to it?”

“Starting to get back used to it.” she admitted. It was one thing to be around the various students on campus; she was in the heart of the city, “Guess you can say that I went through a hermit phase for a while…”

“Is it me or do all artists have these depressing stories about their childhood?” he asked and it made her immediately laugh.

“My childhood was great, thank you! For about a year, though… I didn’t feel like dealing with anyone. I kinda liked it, though. Being away from the outside.”

“Must’ve been tough on your friends and boyfriend.”

“I never had too many friends to begin with. The people I stayed with were my friends… well, no. They’re family.” she smiled. Their food was delivered and she immediately went to work on her burger.

“The statue you did… is that them?”

“Yeah. And… there was no boyfriend. What about you?” she wanted to change the subject. The thought of a potential boyfriend only brought back memories of Tony… and she really didn’t want to dwell on that.

“It’s… somewhat complicated.”

“Oh…?”

“There’s this girl. We’ve been neighbors since we were little. We’re really good friends but…”

“She don’t know that you like her.” she finished for him. Peter nodded sadly, “It’s a good thing you ran into me, then; I got the solution to all your problems!” she perked up. He gave her a look but kept a smile on his face.

“Enlighten me…”

“You gotta take the bull by the horns!”

“… What…?” he asked. She stuffed almost a handful of French fries in her mouth and waited until she was halfway done chewing before speaking again; she loved French fries…

“You know; lead by the reins!”

“… I think you have the saying wrong…” he tried to joke. She huffed.

“Take charge of the situation! Go up to the girl and tell her how you feel, smart ass!”

“I can’t; what part of ‘complicated’ did you not understand? What if… she doesn’t feel the same way?”

“There’s only one way to find out! What’s the worst that could happen?”

“… Total rejection… a ruined friendship…” he started but she waved him off.

“Wuss! That only happens in the movies, anyway! P… life is too short to let the one you love walk away without ‘em knowing how you feel, at least. I…” she stopped herself before she said something that she wasn’t ready to admit; it pained her to even think it. Tabitha stared down at her plate, “Sorry. I think I said too much…”

“No… I think you have a point.” he waited until she looked at him and shrugged, “I don’t think I can afford to sit here and not say anything to her; she’d end up with someone else, again. I think… I will take your advice.” Peter agreed. It was enough to make Tabitha smile.

“Good!” she said and stuffed her mouth with the rest of her fries. 


	6. Taking the Bull By the Horns

Peter Parker and Tabitha Lyght became immediate friends. They met a few times a week for a bite to eat and discussed his love life, her sculptures and random things. He learned more about the family that was immortalized in iron and she learned about the elusive Mary Jane, the love of his life. He had a chance to tell her about his feelings before but delayed on it; she had ended up in his good friend’s arms. She was single once more and Tabitha tried to push him into finally telling her his true feelings.

She was surprised to see that someone else was sitting with Peter in their favorite seat at the diner. All she could see was fiery red locks and immediately smirked; this was the infamous Mary Jane or MJ as Peter lovingly called her. Her smile widened when she realized how close they were sitting; he finally did it, she thought as she approached the table.

“Oh; what’s all this? Cheating on me, P?” she kept her smile and winked at him. Mary Jane looked at him with concern as he turned a slight shade of red and laughed.

“Quit it before she thinks you’re serious!” he warned her. Tabitha laughed and stuck her hand out at Mary Jane.

“Just jokes; geez! Anyway! I finally get to meet MJ! I’m Tabitha.” she said and the two shook hands.

“Oh! It’s nice to finally meet you as well! So, you’re ‘Tabby Cat’: the flamboyant artist!” she said as Tabitha sat down. She gave Peter a look.

“You think I’m flamboyant…?”

“In a good way; you should know that by now!”

The three ate and chatted like old friends for at least two hours straight, ignoring the warning glares from the owner. The two women found each other interesting and Peter was glad that they liked each other. The woman who wore a t-shirt as a head wrap was slowly becoming his best friend; it was important to him that she got along with his new girlfriend.

Tabitha slightly glanced out the window only to be greeted by yet another blaring police siren. She watched as it tried to make its way through the chaos of traffic, almost running over a pedestrian. She shook her head.

“Call me a country bumpkin all you want; I still can’t get used to this mess! So much crime here…” she pointed out. Mary Jane could only shrug.

“You’ll eventually get used to it. Besides, it’s not all that bad anymore.”

“Anymore?”

“That’s right; she doesn’t know that we have a superhero here.” Peter pointed out. She looked at the two. Tabitha had heard of superheroes but she did her best to ignore it. There were no specific superheroes around in Chattanooga or maybe even the whole state of Tennessee for that matter. She always had left the talk of superheroes to the younger children.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t read the newspapers? What about your art segment?” Mary Jane asked. The thought made Tabitha shrug.

“Quite honestly, I don’t have time. P hands me the copy of the arts section personally and that’s it. So… what’s up with the superhero?”

“He’s called Spider-Man…” Peter started but Tabitha’s snorted laugh interrupted him, “What’s so funny?”

“That’s what the guy came up with; ‘Spider-Man’?!” she continued to laugh. Mary Jane slightly shook her head, grabbed a paper someone left on the next table and showed it to her.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” she smiled. Tabitha’s laugh stopped short as she gazed at the front page photo.

“Oh…” an approving smile crept on her face as she studied the picture. The guy was in a full bodysuit from head to toe, lean and very muscular. A large portion of his chest, his entire head, the top of his arms and his hands were red, along with his feet; the rest of his suit was blue. The red portions of his suit carried a white web design. In the middle of his chest was a black imprint of a spider. The photo gave off the illusion that he was flying from a web however Tabitha had doubts that it was an illusion, “Damn… looking really good in that suit…” she caught herself saying.

“Never mind that he saves the day…” Peter teased her. Mary Jane giggled as Tabitha slightly blushed. She pointed to the string of web.

“That ain’t real is it?”

“Yes; hence the reason he’s called Spider-Man…” Mary Jane said.

“Shut the fuck up…” she studied the picture once more. She paid more attention to the headline this time around: “Friend or Foe”, “Huh; not very popular…” she took note. Peter shook his head.

“That’s my boss’s doing. The editor-in-chief doesn’t believe that people nowadays would want to willingly do what Spider-Man does…”

“What?!”

“Yeah; he’s kind of against superheroes and vigilantes.”

“Ah. Kinda hard to argue his point, though. With all these people with these powers, where does that leave the civilians? Out of a job, that’s where. It’s not fair to the police and the detectives and stuff…”

“It’s not like that with Spidey. He’s there when the police can’t be there; when they can’t fight off villains that have super powers as well. He’s… saved me… twice.” Mary Jane slightly smiled. Tabitha gave her a surprised look.

“Whoa; shut…up; you’ve actually seen him in person? Twice?!”

“He’s a real good guy, Tabitha. Pretty sure if or whenever you’re in need… you’ll see him, too.” Mary Jane smiled wider. The thought made Tabitha blush and laugh at the same time. She had forgotten just that quickly that the two had no idea who she really was… and what she was really capable of.

“This city is ginormous… there’s no way he can do this by himself. Do you think… if someone wanted to help him out, he’d let ‘em?” the idea struck her as soon as it came out of her mouth. Mary Jane gave Peter a quick look but then shrugged along with him.

“I don’t know. They’d have to have powers, of course; I don’t think it would work out with a normal person. I would also think that they wouldn’t have an alternative motive for being his sidekick.”

“… Makes sense…” Tabitha rested her chin in her hand.

She wondered why she had never thought about it until then. Why not use her mutant powers for good; why not become a superhero, herself? She was still at a deadlock as far as finding the antidote so she figured that it wouldn’t hurt to put her abilities to good use. Peter wasn’t totally clear but she wasn’t dumb; he pretty much said that Spider-Man would not reject the help of a fellow mutant. She had no other motive; she wouldn’t even want to be recognized.

It took her two weeks to come up with a design for her outfit. She was in luck that Jamila hadn’t thrown out her old ACUs and asked for her to mail them out. She altered the brown undershirt into a crop top and took in the camouflage pants to fit her more snugly. She applied her lightning ability to make them indestructible. The only thing missing was a mask. She was glad that the one thing she had learned from her mother was how to sew and make things; she crafted a cotton mask out of leftover materials similar to one she had seen one of the children’s favorite wrestler wear. She would have more time to perfect the actual design however for the moment, she just needed something to hide her face.

* * *

The professor decided to surprise Tabitha and visit her before the holiday break. She walked down the hall of the dorm and was surprised at how little it had changed since the last time she was there. She lightly knocked on the door and was somewhat confused when it was opened slightly.

“Doc!!” it was Tabitha, alright but she had on some sort of mask. Jamila tilted her head.

“Um…”

“Are you alone?”

“… Yeah. Tabs, wha…” she was about to ask but was immediately pulled inside the room. She almost dropped the gifts she was bearing and carefully put them on a bed, “What the hell?! What’s…” she turned around and saw that Tabitha was dressed in some sort of costume. The ACU pants that had been sent to her were altered to fit tightly on her and the brown undershirt was now exposing a very slim waist and tight stomach. She wasn’t wearing her patented t-shirt head wrap; in its place was a mask that stopped short at her jawline. Her snow-white hair flowed past her shoulders as she smiled. Jamila stifled a snort, “A little late for Halloween?” she tried not to laugh. It only made the young woman huff.

“You don’t like it?”

“What… or who are you supposed to be…?”

“A superhero!”

“A super… it’s a super heroine in your case but…”

“Nah; sounds too much like the drug!” she shook her head. The professor finally laughed a little.

“Okay, seriously; what’s the occasion? Was I supposed to come dressed up, too? We got time to go look for a costume for me…?”

“Oh, my God; doc! This is for real!”

“… Wait… really?” she asked and sat down on the bed.

“Yes, really! A few weeks ago, I had an epitome…”

“You mean, an epiphany?”

“Whatever! So, there’s this superhero named Spider-Man…”

“You’ve seen him?” Jamila perked up. Tabitha blinked a couple of times at the professor.

“You know of him?”

“I’m a mother of a set of five year old triplets; superheroes are their life!”

“Oh…”

“So, what about him?”

“Well… I **was** gonna go through this whole speech about how he helps the city out… but you already know that, I guess. Anyway; he can’t do it by himself. He needs a sidekick!”

“Ah! You’re his new sidekick?! That is sick!” she looked at her. Tabitha shrugged and untied her mask, flinging it on her bed.

“Yeah… about that… I’ve actually never seen him in person. **But** …” she saw the look her friend gave her and sat down beside her, “I know I can help him! I have powers, too. And… I wanna use ‘em for good.”

“Tabs… this ain’t no comic book; you could seriously get hurt…”

“I know, I know. But… the last time I felt like this, I joined the Army. I **know** I can do this; getting hurt is a risk I’m willing to take. Besides… ain’t much that can hurt me, right now!” she winked at Jamila. The woman could only sigh; she knew she was right. Tabitha was faster and stronger than a regular human; the fact that she could shoot lightning at will was a plus as well!

“I guess… if he sees you falling, he can shoot a web out and catch you or something…” she noted. Tabitha almost squealed and gave her a huge hug, “Merry Christmas!”

To show her support, Jamila went out and retrieved staff sergeant insignia patches for Tabitha to sew on the sides of her sleeves; she knew that it wasn’t the best looking outfit but for her very first try, it wasn’t bad at all. The professor told her that if she ended up liking the “job” in the long run, the two would get together and design a better outfit for her.

She had to wait until her roommate was fast asleep before she started on her very first patrol. She had to admit that she was really nervous; it would be the first time that she officially went out during the night in New York. Regardless, she had huge expectations… that had failed to be met during her first patrol! She had forgotten to take in consideration that she couldn’t fly; Tabitha had to do her patrol by foot, lurking in the shadows. The only good thing that came from her first night was that she thwarted a possible car theft; she didn’t even have to touch the guy: all he needed to run away was a quick show of what she **could** do to him!

It wasn’t enough to deter her, however. It actually made her more determined to discover another way to use her powers. That meant a full schedule mixed with studying, practicing lightning techniques and patrolling the streets of New York every other night. The more she stuck to it, the more she realized that she just needed to get back in shape. Before long, because of her increased speed and stamina, the patrols on foot stopped bothering her as much.

It was a Friday night and that excited Tabitha. While she had yet to see the webbed crusader, she took a little pride in knowing that she was doing her part as far as stopping crime. For some reason, criminals were prone to committing more crimes over the weekend, especially on a Friday night; it meant a good night for her as well as a well-deserved rest the next day!

That night, she finally made her way towards the docks near Central Park. She was having a decent night and had actually decided to take a small break. She had climbed on top of one of the shipping containers and studied her surroundings. Sudden footsteps made her glad that she had chosen a container where she wouldn’t be noticed. She laid down on her stomach regardless and watched the action unfold.

She was shocked to see a small group of what looked like high school teens approach another container that was closer to the docks. The fact that they were indeed attempting to go inside the container and take its contents wasn’t what shocked her; nor was it that none of them looked older than sixteen. It was their hair. Each one had a different style but they all had one thing in common: their hair was white… the exact same snow-white as hers.

She listened as the kid who was trying to cut the lock off became frustrated, stating that they just needed to wait until “Alpha” showed up; he would open the container for them. No sooner had he mentioned it, an older man appeared. He seemed to be grumbling to the youngsters as he snapped the lock off with bolt cutters. She couldn’t shake the fact that his demeanor was so familiar to her.

She shook the thought away and reminded herself that she was a superhero, now; she had to stop them from stealing whatever was in the container. She jumped down from her hiding spot, startling the group. When his hazel eyes met hers, it paralyzed her. She could see him clearly now; the distinctive, sharp features, the salt and pepper buzz cut, the way he towered over the teens and herself: “Alpha” was none other than General Gary First.

Seeing him somehow caused the familiar pins and needles feeling erupt throughout her body; she narrowed her eyes and went after him, no questions asked. Before she could get to him, the abrupt pain from being electrocuted made her stumble to the ground. When she looked up, she saw that the kids, six of them, were approaching her… charging up their own powers.

Not wanting to be caught off guard again, she quickly got up; just in time as the small group tried to attack her, yet again. She needed a plan; she needed to get to the general. Tabitha knew that in order to do that, she had to take care of the supercharged teens first. Six against one wasn’t fair however they probably had no idea who they were going against.

She quickly charged after one of the kids and landed a sharp kick to his face, making sure to put as much surge as normal. They were obviously immune to the lightning with the serum injected into them; Tabitha was hoping that the actual force of the kick would be enough to knock him out or at least stall him long enough for her to take care of the others.

She went after the next child, a female who had her snow-white hair braided down her back. She tackled her using all of her strength, natural and mutant, knocking her into another teen. The two landed hard against one of the steel containers. She gave her a quick hit across her face and while the other struggled to free himself from underneath her, Tabitha placed her hand on the girl’s stomach and sent an intense wave of lightning through her, knocking both unconscious. Three more to go, she thought to herself as she turned to face them.

He thought that she was just another rogue soldier that he had created and paid her little mind as his group went on the immediate attack. However, as he watched, it was obvious that she was very different from the others. He looked her over… and widened his eyes as he saw her outfit.

“Sgt. Lyght…” he half whispered as he continued to watch her fight off the group. She had grabbed one of the boys by his arm, shocked him and immediately delivered a quick jab to his throat. Another female came after her, charging up. He was surprised as Tabitha grabbed the girl’s arm and didn’t flinch when the teenager still shocked her. She only returned a more powerful surge and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying across almost through another steel container.

Tabitha turned and glared at the general. She wasn’t worried about the last kid, seeing how easily she took care of the others. She almost smiled evilly as she saw a flicker of fear show in Gary’s eyes as she went after him. He was seconds from running away until the last teen stopped her short. He was behind her and delivered a potent current to her back, making her drop to her knees. Angered, she turned to retaliate only to be greeted by a punch to her face and a rapid series of shocks. All but one teen had recuperated and were attacking her all at once.

Gary silently sighed for relief but quickly put a smile to his face.

“Enough playing around; dispose of her quickly…” he made sure that he put a blatant emphasis on his words. There wasn’t anything she could really do as the pain from the continuous shocks outweighed the fact that she was also absorbing the blows.

“Yes, boss! Stupid bitch; let’s see how well you can swim!” one of the guys said and she was lifted off the ground. Regardless of how much she tried to shock the group, it was as if they had returned the shocks tenfold. To make matters worse, her heart was racing as they neared the edge of the docks and she was looking down at the black water. There was a reason why of all the branches of services, she had chosen the Army; at the time, they did not require a swim qualification: Tabitha could not swim.

No matter how hard she struggled, she was no match for six supercharged teens. Before she knew it, they had thrown her across into the water. Something overcame her as she saw herself getting closer and closer to hitting the water. She screamed in her mind; this was **not** how things were supposed to end. She had powers; she was stronger and faster: there was no way that this super heroine was going to go out by **drowning**!

She thought that she would just flail her arms and legs, luck up and doggie paddle to safety. Or better yet, try to run, she thought foolishly. She closed her eyes and before she could stop herself, her body indeed tried to run away from the water. She held her breath, braced herself to feel the icy water engulf her body. Something wasn’t right; she hadn’t heard the “swoosh” she expected to hear or even felt anything wet on her. I’m already dead; I died before I hit the water, she slightly panicked. Tabitha opened her eyes… and saw that she was on the safety of a muddy bank. She turned to look at her surroundings and saw that the docks were at least fifty feet away. The teens and Gary all looked over at her in utter surprise.

“Holy shit! Boss; did you see what she just did?!” she heard one of them exclaim. Not wanting them to follow her, she tried her luck and attempted the feat again; she concentrated and pushed all of her energy into running away… and disappeared from their sight.

“She’s not one of us, is she, boss?” another teen asked Gary. He slowly started to smile.

“Out-fucking-standing, sergeant…” he mumbled. He turned his attention back to his group, “Soldiers, we have a new mission. Unload the container and I’ll debrief you.”

She took a shaky breath as she got back to her room and quickly changed. She thought that she would be dog-tired, ready to hide deep in her covers and not come back out until Monday. The small brush of death however, had revitalized her. It had taken her fifteen minutes to walk from the dorms to the docks; with her new ability, she was back at the dorms in fifteen seconds!

It was enough to make her smile widely. Tabitha Lyght didn’t need to learn how to fly: she was literally lightning fast. It was a weird feeling, enough to make her slightly dizzy and confused. However, with practice, she knew that just as she had gotten used to the pins and needles feeling, she would get over the other feeling. She took a note of what all she had gained due to that mutant strand fighting her normal DNA strand: she could weld any metal, she could make fabrics indestructible, she could throw out lightning at will… and now she could run as fast as lightning. Maybe being a mutant isn’t as bad as I thought, she continued to smile.

It soon faded as the picture of the man who was responsible for the way she was came to mind. Gary First; no, he was Alpha, now. She wondered how he had gotten out of stockade. If he ever even went, she angrily thought. And if it wasn’t bad enough to had turned her best friend into a freak of nature, now he was injecting kids with that serum. She sadly admitted that the current batch was slightly better; they had lasted longer than Tony had and looked as though they still had more to dish out. Their lightning was more potent than his as well, she shuddered.

Maybe now she didn’t have to worry about the whole ordeal; she had escaped by using her new ability. From the looks of their faces, they weren’t able to do it; if they had, they would’ve given chase. She was safe at the moment but knew that she had to be prepared to see them again, especially seeing that she didn’t want to stop being a super heroine. She made a promise to herself as her eyelids started to get heavy: she **would** settle things once and for all if she ever saw Alpha again.

* * *

It was too cold to study at her usual spot by the fountain so Peter found Tabitha in the cafeteria, eating a bagged lunch. He gave her a look but sat down beside her.

“What?”

“You made your own lunch?”

“I’m on a diet, remember?”

“A diet? For what?!” he couldn’t help looking at her slim and toned frame. She playfully poked at her stomach.

“You see that flabby stuff? It’s got to go!” she said. He sighed and laughed. He handed her The Daily Bugle; he knew that she was steadily looking for somewhere to stay and promised he would at least provide her the paper so that she could look.

She smiled and was about to go to the classifieds until another article caught her eye.

“Found something?”

“Yeah. It’s about a lot of robberies that happened.”

“Typical.” Peter shrugged. She continued to scan the article.

“‘The suspects are believed to be high school-aged children with phenomenal lightning powers. Police are asking those who witness any suspicious behavior involving any white-haired teens to report it immediately’. What?” she looked at Peter. Of course, she knew who the “white-haired” kids were; at least she knew who was responsible for them.

“Looks like more people with powers causing trouble, again…”

“I don’t like the sound of this.”

“It tends to happen every now and then. This is a bit different, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s usually only one or two villains causing trouble for Spider-Man… not a whole group. I hope he can handle this…” he had a surprising look of worry on his face. She smirked at him.

“Didn’t think you were a superhero fan, ‘specially seeing that the guy’s saved MJ twice…” she teased.

“What can I say; it’s a guilty pleasure of mine! To be honest? I think I’m his biggest.”

“What; you got Spider-Man underwear or something? Got pictures of him on your wall?” she continued her teasing. Peter laughed and lightly pushed her.

“Someone saves the one that you love twice and tell me you wouldn’t be a fan!”

“I’d be mighty suspicious of why my significant other is always getting into trouble like that…”

“Of course.” he sighed, “Anyway! I have to cancel our dinner plans for tonight.”

“Midterms.” she said along with him and the two lightly laughed, “No probs. I gotta do the same; chemistry’s kicking my ass!” she lied.

“Come by Aunt May’s tomorrow; she’s really been asking about you.”

“Really? Guess it’s a date!” she winked at him. Peter got up to leave.

“See you, then.”

“Looking forward to it. Later, P.”

She couldn’t tell him the truth about her moonlighting as a superhero; not yet, anyway. It wasn’t a trust issue with him; he was the nicest person she had met in the city. She just didn’t know how he would handle being good friends with a super heroine. In the meantime, she pushed that thought aside as she used her new ability (she decided to name it Lightning Cloud) to patrol the city. She kept a watchful eye out for any of the white-haired children and their leader; she didn’t want to get outsmarted by them, again.

Tabitha looked up at one building and decided to experiment. Lightning Cloud could carry her across water, no problem; she wondered if it would be able to carry her upwards. She was amazed that within seconds, she was on the rooftop… and a few feet away from the one and only Spider-Man. He perked up and turned suddenly, looking at her. She was in too much shock to move; she simply stood there and stared as if meeting a celebrity.

“Spider-Man…” she slightly whispered and smiled. He tilted his head slightly, studying her.

“Hmm; white hair. And let me guess; you have lightning abilities?” he asked. She lightly smiled and gave him a preview, letting the electrical currents travel all over her body before they dissipated, “Impressive. But, I see you’re different from the other ‘White Hairs’.”

“How so?”

“Well… you haven’t made a move to attack me. You’re the one who’s been helping me out, aren’t you?” he asked her. She blushed slightly.

“You’ve noticed…”

“I have; thank you. Why are you helping me?” he simply asked. She shrugged.

“You’re only one… spider…” she smiled wider.

“You’re right. Seems to me that you’re a rogue ‘White Hair’; I could use your help and knowledge on handling them. Willing to join me?” he decided to not beat around the bush. Tabitha fought a hard battle with herself to keep her girlish squeal in her mind.

“Cocked, locked and ready to rock!”

“I’m… guessing that means yes! So, what do you go by?” he asked. She thought she had prepared for everything when she made the decision to go into crime fighting until that question popped up. Of all things to forget, she had forgotten the most important thing: her super heroine name!

What should she go by? The only nickname she had were the three plays on her name: Tabby, Tabby Cat and Tabs. She could do something with that but a quick look at her outfit deterred that thought. That’s when it dawned on her.

“… You can call me… Sgt. Lyght…”


	7. Justice

Sgt. Lyght finally met Spider-Man and she had to admit that he was more impressive… and toned in person than she ever imagined. Another thing that she also had to admit; she was infatuated with Spidey. She imagined that he was like her in a way; living a normal life in the day (sometimes not even then; he had been seen numerous times in broad daylight), trying his best to keep his true strength and abilities at bay. Spider-Man could be anyone in the city. She couldn’t wait until he gained even more trust in her, unmasking himself to her. In order for that to happen, she concluded, Tabitha had to change up her schedule and go on patrol every night.

As much as she wanted to squeal and confess to Peter and MJ that she had finally seen Spider-Man up close, she knew that she couldn’t. She didn’t want to sound like some crazed fan when all the time, she had been keeping her comments to herself. Questions would definitely be asked and the only way to answer them would be to lie. The three were close; she didn’t want to lie to them when it wasn’t necessary. She made the decision to keep her mouth shut for the time being and go on acting like everything was normal.

After numerous outings together, Spider-Man actually insisted that she become his sidekick. He admitted that she made the nights much easier on him; although their main objective was to hunt down Alpha and the “White Hairs” (this is what the media finally pinned on the supercharged kids), it didn’t cease other crimes from happening. She was glad to be his sidekick; she saw that they were actually a great team and made quick work of any criminal.

She was in the diner, sipping on coffee and studying when a newspaper was abruptly placed on top of her book. She looked up at Mary Jane first and then put her attention back to the newspaper. It was The Daily Bugle and on the front page was Spider-Man; that was no surprise. J.J. Jameson, editor-in-chief, had a personal vendetta against him; little did he know that regardless of the headline, putting Spider-Man on the cover every time he did something only made him even more popular.

It wasn’t until she saw who was beside him that surprised him; herself. From the looks of it, they were calling it a night and had been probably caught on camera by one of the photographers; Spidey throwing out his patented web string and she looked as if she was riding on a flash of light. It made her smile a bit; so that’s what it looks like slowed down! Her smile left when she saw the headline: “Spidey’s New Sidekick: A White Hair?!”

She looked back at Mary Jane as she sat down across from her.

“You’re showing me this because…”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed your sudden interest in crime and Spider-Man!” she smiled. Tabitha put her attention back to the paper.

“A White Hair?” the picture actually did make someone pay more attention to her hair than anything else, “They’re joking, right? This is photo shopped like hell…”

“Actually, it’s not. If anything’s good about the Bugle is the integrity of their photographers. Don’t even bother reading the article; it’s wrong as always. She’s a good White Hair. She’s only been seen with Spidey… no one else.”

“How do you know?” she actually asked the question absentmindedly. She was more excited that she had been photographed and identified… sort of. All thanks to The Daily Bugle, people knew that Sgt. Lyght existed.

“Well… at least she’s not been seen with the other White Hairs…”

“She could be the leader of ‘em…”

“Possibly… but not likely.” Mary Jane tried to argue. Tabitha just smiled at the photo.

“So… a possible new superhero, huh?”

“Super heroine…”

“Oh, no thank you; I don’t do drugs…” she teased but kept her eyes on the paper. She couldn’t help but to laugh as Mary Jane roared with laughter, “What does P think about all this?”

“Oh, he’s thrilled about it! He said that the whole staff is, except for his boss.”

“Figures. Then again, bad news is good news to him. If she’s what she’s acting like she is, this could be promising.” she noted. Mary Jane nodded. She pointed at the white flash of light on the paper.

“See that?”

“Yeah… what is that…?”

“Lightning. She’s the only White Hair that can do it. She’s way different from them…” she confirmed. Tabitha only nodded and continued to study the picture. 

* * *

 It was a bad night to be out and about but superheroes couldn’t be picky; they had an unwritten job to do regardless of the weather. The rain threatened to drench anyone unlucky enough to be in it but Tabitha didn’t mind it; she stayed on the rooftop, calmly scanning the city as she always did. She was actually waiting on Spider-Man; it was where they had agreed to meet up at every night, seeing that it was the same rooftop where they had first met. She couldn’t help blushing at that fact.

“Didn’t think you’d be out in this…” his voice almost startled her. She turned and smiled at him.

“I’m made of lightning; a little rain won’t hurt me!”

“Good! I think I have a lead, then. Follow me.”

“Wait.” she got half the nerve to say. She wished that she could see his face expressions at least but his mask concealed everything, “There’s something I’ve always wanted to try.” she smiled. Before he could respond, she wrapped her arm around his waist, “Won’t be needing your webs tonight! Where we heading?”

“The docks.”

“Hold on tight!” she warned him and immediately used Lightning Cloud. The two were at the docks in a little over ten seconds.

“Wow… that was a rush!”

“Take me out on a swing one night and we can call it even!” she winked.

“It’s a date.” his words made her turn away, slightly flustered. It also reminded her of how she teased Peter with those words; it put her in stitches to see his face slightly redden whenever she said it, “So, there’s another cargo load coming in and there’s word out the White Hairs will be here for it.” he continued to explain. Before she could nod in agreement, she spotted someone. There was something not right about the guy. Even from afar, she could see that he wasn’t dressed properly for the weather (the same could be said about herself but she was a super heroine; she had a legitimate excuse); there was a brisk chill in the air but he had on a sleeveless short and pants.

The guy looked her way and started to smile. When he started to approach them, Tabitha put a hand on Spider-Man’s arm, drawing his attention.

“Spider senses not tingling, yet?” she asked, still looking at the man.

“… They are now…” he said. As the man finally came into view, it made Tabitha tense up. Rage started to build inside of her and she really wanted to focus. However, she couldn’t: she was staring right at Alpha. He smiled as currents flowed over her in quick, angry spurts.

“… Sergeant…?” Spider-Man tried but she had fallen deaf. On top of his ability to warn him of someone or something dangerous nearby, he could also feel the heat of her built up rage; it was enough to make him back away from her.

“Well, well, well; if it isn’t Sgt. Lyght! Looking really good for a dead soldier.” he teased her. Despite being raged, she could tell that he had… transformed. His once salt and pepper hair was jet black and his skin was bronzed, giving him a metallic look. The dull yellow shirt showed off muscles that she would have never thought he had, even in the uniform.

Spider-Man was slightly taken aback; the two acted like they knew each other… very well. The man didn’t hesitate to call her by her super heroine name; he realized that it may be her actual name. The two never talked about their personal lives or even shared with each other how they came to be; their main priority was to stop crime. He had a feeling that Alpha did play a part in the reason how Sgt. Lyght came to be but he always wondered why she was more powerful than the other White Hairs.

She didn’t respond verbally to his cruel taunt; she had every intention to respond physically. She charged up with all her might and threw a massive surge of lightning towards him, every bit of her energy put into it. The attack engulfed Alpha, knocking him a few feet back. There was no way Spider-Man or anyone else could’ve stopped her; she was enraged and wouldn’t have listened to begin with. It still didn’t make it right; she killed him with ease, without even thinking… and it was the most terrifying feeling Spider-Man ever felt.

It had to be the most energy she had ever released since becoming a mutant and it not only left her slightly exhausted but snapped her out of her enraged state. The only thing she remembered was becoming upset when she saw his face; next thing she knew, she was watching as the surges pulsated around his body. She admitted that it left a bit of satisfaction in her heart to see him dead; it was what he deserved, really. The feeling was short-lived as she realized that there was no familiar scent of charred flesh… and that Spider-Man was probably giving her a disapproving look underneath his mask.

“Sgt. Lyght!” his tone changed to a moralizing one. He couldn’t condone killing anyone, regardless of what they had done. It was one thing to accidentally kill someone but she had done it blatantly. When he thought about it, he really couldn’t put the entire blame on her; she had become blinded with rage.

Before he could continue to show his disappointment, he noticed that the surges that had covered Alpha’s body started to bounce off his body and dissipate. His body started to slightly shake but not because he had just been electrocuted; he was… laughing. He slowly got up, still laughing. Tabitha’s eyes widened.

“What the hell…” she thought out loud.

“That… should’ve killed him…” even Spider-Man was in shock. Part of him was glad that he wasn’t dead but it didn’t make the situation less confusing.

“Gaddamn excellent, sergeant! Whew; that actually felt good! Now… it’s my turn…” he gave her an evil grin. She couldn’t move as she saw that he was charging up.

“Wha…” before she could finish, a ball of red energy engulfed her. It was the most painful thing she ever felt in her life; the excruciating pain gave her no choice but to drop down in agony. She could barely lift her head up but knew she had to retaliate. When she tried to, however, nothing flowed out of her arms or hands. Alpha smiled more as he calmly made his way towards her. She looked up at him, the pain still slowly coursing its way throughout her body, “H-how…”

“Did you really think that I would have a unit full of supercharged teenagers and not do anything to make them think twice about turning against me?”

“Leave her alone!” Spider-Man immediately went towards him. A streak of red zipped by, narrowly missing his head.

“This has nothing to do with you; soldiers!” Alpha bellowed. To Tabitha’s disgust, a large group of White Hairs appeared instantly, almost double what she had to fight off. She tried yet again to throw out lightning towards the group, trying to distract them but nothing came out. Alpha shook his head at her, “That won’t work; at least for a short while. Afraid I’ve nullified your powers for the time being.”

“W-what… did you… do…?” she managed; the pain was so great, it hurt her to even speak! She tried to turn her head towards the White Hairs who were throwing their lightning towards Spider-Man; she had hoped that he was trying to fight them off or at least evading their attacks. The grumbling of frustrated teens told her that he was indeed invading them.

“No time for a full explanation; just know that I’ve created an antiserum and overdosed on it. I’ve become… ionized; your lightning powers are useless against me, now.” he halfway explained. He easily picked her up from the ground. Before he could carry her away, he felt a swift kick in his back and dropped her.

“She’s not going anywhere, pal!” Spider-Man told him and gave him another kick to his face. Alpha immediately retaliated with a red stream but Spider-Man dodged it, “Won’t work on me; I’m not made of lightning…” he told him as he came at him with a series of punches. The pain was finally starting to reside from her body as she couldn’t do anything but watch the fight between the two. She was able to move a bit and did so, trying to push herself off of the ground.

Out of nowhere, a small streak of lightning hit Spider-Man, causing him to stop his assault on Alpha. The White Hairs approached him, coming to the aide of their leader. He became overwhelmed as they started to deliver light shocks to him.

“S-Spidey!!” she could finally yell with little pain. The urgency to move outweighed the pain and she was finally standing upright. While she was glad that Alpha had completely forgot about her, she had to stop the onslaught of shocks the White Hairs were giving her partner.

She tried one more time to use her lightning ability and was elated that they were finally back. She quickly threw a few streams towards the group and was glad that a few turned their attention to her. She started charging up and motioned for them to come after her. They did so, as she expected and without warning, she did a Lightning Cloud towards the first White Hair. She ended up behind him and released all the energy she was charging up on his back. She went towards the next victim, grabbed him by his neck and shocked him as well with all of her might. She had learned her lesson from the last time she went against the White Hairs; she couldn’t afford to waste time on attacking them. Her number one priority was to reach Spider-Man and get him to safety.

Alpha took over with the torture of Spider-Man; he lifted him up and threw him against a container. From where she was, Tabitha couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not; she knew that she would be able to withstand the shocks however, she had no idea if his suit was able to absorb most of the hits. Alpha gave him a hard jab to his face and a powerful ray of red to his chest; if he wasn’t unconscious before, he was definitely unconscious now, Tabitha winced.

“Although you’re not made out of lightning, it’s still very painful… isn’t it? Now… to see who Spider-Man really is!” it put a smile to his face. She didn’t make it over to him in time; Alpha unmasked him and it made her stand frozen in her spot, in complete awe.

“…P…?!” she couldn’t help it. No way, she repeatedly thought. Alpha gave him a disappointed glare and so was caught off guard when he felt the sting of electricity on the back of his neck. Before he or any of the other White Hairs could retaliate, Tabitha had grabbed Peter’s mask and Peter, and did a Lightning Cloud to somewhere safe.

She was glad that she remembered that Peter kept the window unlocked in what was now the extra bedroom in his Aunt May’s home. She was weary but sighed as she knew that he was in a definite safe spot as she laid his limp body in the bed. She continued to look at him in disbelief and slowly shook her head.

“… P is Spider-Man…” she thought she had said it low enough. He stirred and moaned slightly, making her debate on whether she should stay there. She quickly decided against it, put his mask back on and went out of the window. She secretly waited and watched until he slowly came to, sitting up and holding his head. When he became familiar with his surroundings and looked out the window, he barely missed as she did a Lightning Cloud back to the dorms. 

* * *

 It racked her brain for the longest. Tabitha was in total disbelief; why had it never occurred to her that Peter Parker was Spider-Man? Well, for one: Peter was often soft-spoken and shy, not wanting to really be around too many people. The only people he actually hung out with were Mary Jane, Harry Osborn; his friend from high school, and herself. He avoided confrontation at all costs. She had never seen his frame and realized that he almost always wore double layers of clothing, even in the warmer months. Or, his clothes seemed to try to fall off of him.

Spider-Man, on the other hand, was the complete opposite: brave and scrappy with a nice physique. He was cocky and always quick with a brash comeback of some sorts. He was willing to protect those who needed protecting. She tried her best to try to find **something** to compare the two, something that should’ve given it away that Spider-Man was Peter; she considered him her best friend and it slightly angered her that she hadn’t caught on. His voice, maybe? She thought about it: the only thing different was the tone that Spider-Man used. It made her immediately think about another important thing; she never tried to disguise her own voice. For all she knew, Peter already knew who she was; how many southerners lived in New York?

She had a dilemma; would she let him know that she knew who he was? That made her think about another dilemma: what if he really didn’t know that she was Sgt. Lyght? If she confessed to him, it would also be confessing who she was. They had been good friends for almost a year now and superhero partners for a few months; maybe it was high time that she went ahead and fessed up.

She had overslept and rushed to meet Peter at the diner. The two had lucked up and were finally taking a class together; he insisted that the two studied at their favorite spot over coffee. She really needed a few cups; she had foolishly taken a break from crime fighting and attended a party with Samantha.

As she rushed inside, almost knocking over a customer, Peter looked up and smiled at her. She sat down and started pulling out her books from her book bag.

“Forgot?”

“Overslept! Alarm clocks are shit…” she started and he laughed. The waitress placed Tabitha’s coffee on the table and she prepped it with creamer and two sugars, “Okay, I’ll admit; I went to a party with Sammie last night…”

“Tabby Cat…”

“What?! She forced me! Something about I needed to loosen up or something like that…”

“Well… I see nothing wrong with the Tabitha Lindsay in front of me, now…” he smiled. She gave him a smirk.

“I’m telling MJ…” she warned and it was enough to send him into a laughing fit. She took a long sip of her coffee and decided to go ahead and confess. She would had rather to have done so in the comfort of his Aunt May’s house but he had insisted to be at their favorite hangout. She knew that if she didn’t do it now, she wouldn’t get the nerve to do so any time soon.

He looked up at her and was about to mention that she had a thick strand of hair falling out of her signature t-shirt head wrap; he was going to simply excuse it as her being in such a rush that she didn’t put on her wrap tightly enough. It wasn’t until he saw the color of the strand that made him stare: it was a perfectly snow-white strand of hair… just like a White Hair…

She sighed and looked up at Peter who she noticed was giving her a weird look.

“What’s up?” she simply asked. He blinked a couple of times, leaned over and grabbed the strand.

“Your… hair…” he couldn’t believe it; it really was white. Was she really a White Hair, he wondered. She was older than them; there was no way. Then, it felt as though his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. Tabby Cat… is Sgt. Lyght, the thought thundered in his head.

She wanted to cry as she tried to stuff the hair back in the head wrap; this wasn’t how she wanted to tell him! She bit her lip and pulled him out of his seat.

“We’ll be right back…” she told the confused waitress as they made their way outside. She pulled him around the corner out of sight from anyone.

He couldn’t let her know that he knew exactly who she was; he had to pretend that he had no clue.

“Are you... are you a White Hair?” he tried. She let out a heavy sigh and pulled her head wrap completely off. Working with Sgt. Lyght, of course he had seen it in the moonlight and under street lamps; her hair had mesmerized him if anything. But, now it was attached to his best friend; he couldn’t help but to look in awe. To be able to put a full face to everything else was almost mind blowing. Then again, it was actually a relief; for all those months, he didn’t have some strange, new super heroine on his side: his best friend was his sidekick, “Whoa, Tabby Cat… wait… **you’re** Spidey’s sidekick?!” he had to act surprised; for all he knew, she still had no clue that he was Spider-Man. She found it cute that he was acting like he wasn’t. All she had to do was simply say: I know who you are. However, if he wanted to pretend that he wasn’t Spider-Man, she figured that he had a good reason not to confess at the moment. She would tell him later.

“… Yeah.” she sighed. She took the time to tie the t-shirt around her hair properly… and tightly as the two made their way back into the diner. They sat in silence, not wanting to look at each other.

“… Why didn’t you tell us from the start?” he silently asked. Maybe had she told them, he would’ve automatically told her who he was. She shrugged and almost laughed as another thought came to her: Mary Jane knew that he was Spider-Man. She had probably known from the start. It made sense to her now; the remark about if she was ever in need, Spider-Man would save her: she knew that Peter wouldn’t hesitate to help out his best friend.

“I… because admitting it out loud would mean to… tell you how it happened. I… wasn’t ready to do that…” she admitted, looking away. He nodded sympathetically. He had a feeling, just like the other night, that Alpha had a major part of it but he wanted to really hear it from her mouth. He gently grabbed her hand.

“I’m here to listen…” he tried. She looked at him and slightly sighed. He was her best friend… and her crime fighting partner; maybe he needed to know.

She lowly explained everything to him, starting from the experiment to the last encounter with him; she left out the part that he unmasked Peter. When she started talking about what Alpha had done to him, he noticed with a heavy heart that her eyes moistened. Yet again, she had been too slow to prevent things from happening… and it really angered her. She couldn’t let things like that happen ever again; she couldn’t risk losing another friend.

He didn’t let go of her hand as she explained everything. It almost made him sick to his stomach that someone like that was allowed to become a general, was even allowed to be able to walk the streets freely. He may had accidentally turned Tabitha into what she was now… but Peter saw that he had no remorse, especially seeing how he was turning impressionable teens into nearly the same thing. They were more dangerous than Tabitha ever would be; they didn’t care who they hurt. Tabitha on the other hand…

It made him think about the other night. He knew that she wouldn’t usually hurt anyone; all the times that they worked together, she either gave people light shocks or showed off her abilities in a way to where they would give up, not wanting to feel the shock that she could produce! It was very different with Alpha; she wanted him dead, no doubt about it. After learning the entire story, he felt a bit guilty admitting that he really didn’t blame her. However, it wasn’t the way he did things… and he didn’t want her resorting to it.

“Tabby… wait, that **is** your real name, right?” he asked. She laughed a little.

“Smart ass! Yeah… but my last name is actually Lyght…”

“Ly…” he couldn’t help but to laugh, “Wow; that really suits you…”

“Yeah; that damn general thought so, too…” she looked away. He sighed, feeling bad that he even brought it up.

“Tabby Cat, listen to me; it’s horrible what he’s done to you. I would sleep so much better at night knowing that you and Spidey got him off the streets. But… I don’t think you need to get over your head on this. You don’t know what’ll happen if you’re too enraged at him. You might… end up hurting others instead.” he remembered the massive attack she gave Alpha. What would have happened if she didn’t have full control over that huge amount of lightning; it could’ve hit someone else.

“P, I’m good. He just needs to pay for everything he’s done… to me, to the others… and to Spidey…” she looked dead at him.

“He’ll pay for it the right way… I’m sure of it…”

* * *

Another night of crime fighting, he thought. As he made his way to the rooftop of their usual building, he smiled underneath his mask at the sight of his friend. She smiled and approached him.

“Tonight’s slow. I have a feeling that we’ll run into Alpha and his crew of White Hairs tonight, though.” she stretched and cracked her fingers. It was enough to make him sigh a bit; it was as if she ignored his advice: she was still bent up on getting revenge on Alpha.

“Sergeant… I think you’re being a bit overzealous about Alpha.” he sighed out. She simply looked at him.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Every night, you expect to find him. You’re concentrating way too much on him.”

“So… we’re just gonna sit here and let him get away with everything he’s done?” she had been trying to disguise her voice until that point; it slightly offended her that he would suggest dropping the hunt.

“Believe me; I want to stop him, too. But we shouldn’t exhaust all our resources on him.”

“How can you be so calm about all of this?”

“Because… I’m not letting it take total control over me.” he felt that it was what she needed to hear. She widened her eyes at him.

“You think I don’t have any control?”

“I was there that night, remember? I’m just looking out for you, Lyght; that’s what partners do.”

“Yeah? Partners also trust each other. If you don’t trust me enough to have any damn control when I fight, then why the hell am I your partner?!” she actually surprised herself that she was getting really upset with Peter. He sighed yet again.

“You know, after that night… I don’t know what to expect out of you the next time we see him. That’s what worries me. I can’t let him render you powerless, again.”

“I… can take care of my fucking self!” she tried to choose her words wisely but they just flew out of her mouth.

“Really? So, tell me, then; what happens the next time he hits you with his ionization? You know what; you don’t have to answer that. I’ll tell you what will happen: you’ll be on the ground, paralyzed while I’m left to fight him and his White Hairs **and** tend to you!” it hurt him more than he wanted to admit to yell at her however, he didn’t know how else to put the point across to her.

“I don’t have time for this; fuck you, P! I ain’t gonna sit here and let you lecture me on some stupid shit! If you don’t like me going after Alpha, then I guess you’re gonna have to stop me!” she raged and did a Lightning Cloud off the rooftop. Peter took off after her; did he hear what he thought he heard? She already knew who he was…

He hadn’t realized how fast her ability actually made her until that moment; the only thing he could do was follow the random streaks of lightning that he barely saw in front of him. He found her at the docks, wreaking havoc on a random container bin.

“Tabitha!” he needed to stop her. He took a risk and grabbed her tightly around her shoulders. He was glad that she didn’t shock him… but she sure did know how to throw a vicious hit; her elbow landed hard on his nose. She turned around and stared at Peter rubbing his nose through his mask.

“Why won’t you let me fight…?” her voice quivered.

“Because you can’t… not against him… not now.” he told her softly. She slowly came back to her senses; he was right. Now that Alpha had powers, powers that nullified hers, there really wasn’t anything that she could do to hurt him. All he had to do was hit her… and she was done for.

“I’m sorry, P…” she said it before she could stop herself. He took his mask off and looked at her.

“How did you know? When did you figure out who I was?”

“You were knocked out… and Alpha unmasked you.” she confessed. He nodded and hugged her.

“So, you **were** the one who took me back home…” he finally had a definite answer. He had a feeling that she was responsible for getting him to safety; after feeling the horrible combination of Alpha’s powers and the White Hairs’ jolts, his body made him pass out and he remembered nothing else. It had dawned on him then; he should’ve figured out that Sgt. Lyght was Tabitha at that point; besides Mary Jane and Harry, she was the only other person who knew where his Aunt May lived.

He sighed, glad that she was willing to listen now. He was about to propose a compromise: he would take care of Alpha and she would take care of the White Hairs. All of the sudden, he felt that unwanted yet familiar sting take over his body. He dropped down to his knees and looked up at Tabitha, who was looking at him wide-eyed. He saw her open her mouth but then she was immediately engulfed by a red energy. She had to have yelled out in pain, he definitely saw her mouth moving. However, the whizzing of the red energy coupled with the snaps of electricity had drained all other sounds out. Peter tried to reach out to Tabitha but was knocked out cold by another deafening hit.

A smile crept on his face as his “soldiers” gathered around the two. One looked back at him.

“What do we do with the spider, boss?”

“Leave him.” Alpha ordered. He approached Tabitha and flung her over his shoulder, “I got what I wanted.” he gave her another powerful dose of his power to knock her out.

Peter finally came to with a slight headache. He moaned slightly as he sat up, feeling a bit dizzy. Once the feeling left and he focused, he realized what happened. He immediately put his mask back on and looked around the area. Of course, she was nowhere to be find: Alpha and the White Hairs had taken her.

To where was the big question. They had to have a hideout, he thought as he began to swing through the city. And, he knew that he would keep her alive; she was way more valuable alive than dead. The White Hairs Alpha had created were powerful… but watered down versions of Tabitha; he would want to clone her.

How was he going to find her? She could be anywhere, he thought. When his spider-senses started to tingle, he perked up. It was a longshot; his senses were never honed onto a certain person, just overall imminent danger. However, he didn’t want to risk not following it. They started going haywire as he got closer to a building that looked abandoned. Peter didn’t think that it was a coincidence that there were a few White Hairs roaming around outside the building. He waited until they went inside before he quickly scoped the three-story building out.

The first floor was wide; it seemed to look like a warehouse area. It looked as though it was made for training. Scaling the side of the building, Peter made his way to the second floor and looked through the various cloudy windows; there were a few rooms used for sleeping, a kitchen area and another room that looked it was for training as well. It was the third floor where he was glad he found his answers: it was separated into two large rooms, both looked like elaborate labs. Peter was about to crawl into one of the open windows until he looked in and immediately saw Tabitha. She was in a hospital gown and strapped into a gurney bed, her vitals being monitored by two medics, a man and a woman. Peter watched as she finally came to and noticed that she was covered in something; he didn’t know what it was.

Her eyes focused and she noticed that she was being restrained when she tried to move. She charged up and yelled out in slight pain as the shock cascaded over her; it grabbed the attention of the two medics. The man went back to his business, tending and tracking the monitors as the woman looked at Tabitha with sympathetic green eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted as Alpha walked in.

“Status.” he coolly ordered. She reluctantly went back to the monitors.

“Stable. Heart rate is elevated… but that’s normal…” Cheryl mumbled her last few words. He ignored her and approached Tabitha. When she saw him, she writhed more furiously and tried her ability once more, only to shock herself, again.

“Ah, ah, ah… the last thing we need is for you to hurt yourself…” it sounded as if he really was concerned. She tensed up in her restraints and glared at him.

“Let… me… go…” she struggled. He smiled at her.

“In due time. Oh, just a reminder…” he placed his hand on her arm and applied his own power to her. She was painfully reminded that it may not be a good idea to cross him as she cried out, “If you try anything when you’re released, I won’t hold back.” he returned her glare, “Now… I know that you have a few questions for me; like how you’re unable to use your powers. You are... but who would’ve thought that something simple as hydrogel would make them only hurt you?” he smiled at her. She wondered why she felt slightly weird, as if she was weighed down; the mad man covered her in the gel so she would absorb her own lightning powers. To make matters worse, she couldn’t do anything but grit her teeth in pain as the red energy flowed over her, “Let’s see; any other questions you may have… oh; what do I want from you. It should be obvious; you’re my greatest creation and I wish to… duplicate you. Cooperating will keep you alive; I would rather have you that way.” it sounded like a warning. She still couldn’t move as he gently wiped the hydrogel off of her, “My current batch of soldiers are nothing compared to you. Their powers last longer than your friend’s did but they still have to get the serum injected into them. But, you? Why, you’re perfect. No serum, just raw ability. And to think; those two professors wanted to get rid of it…” he finished wiping her down. Alpha looked at the two medics, “Have her ready in ten minutes. Don’t worry, love; this won’t hurt you at all.” Alpha caressed her cheek before leaving. She could barely move her head but was glad that she did; she looked up and saw Peter in the window. She wanted badly to try to get out of her restraints but the dull ache made her paralyzed. As soon as Alpha left the room, Peter saw his chance to save his best friend. He went through the window and landed silently besides her. It still made the medics perk up and when they approached him, he covered their mouths with his webs.

“Ssh; let’s just make this simple and quiet as possible…” he slightly warned them. Peter immediately undid the straps and picked up his friend who was slightly shaking. She was glad that Alpha didn’t apply as much power as he did the last time she felt his sting; she was slowly recuperating. Peter noticed that she was trying out her lightning ability and carefully put her down, “Think you can walk?” he asked. She steadied herself for a moment and then nodded. After that, however would be a blur. She thought about what Alpha had told her; how he wanted to duplicate her. It almost made her sick to her stomach to think that he actually wanted to make people like her. It angered her that it seemed that he had no remorse whatsoever about how he treated her. Just like when she faced Tony, her body became numb and her vision started to fade to black. The general was going to pay for all the hurt he did to her.

Peter had to jump back quickly as waves of currents erupted all over her body. Before he could stop it, Tabitha had painfully clawed away at the webs around the medics’ mouths and had both dangling in the air by their throats.

“Tabitha!!”

“Who dumped me?” she hissed. When they didn’t respond, she tightened her grip around their necks, “Who… dumped me?!” she tried, again. She was quickly losing all reasoning and she knew that it didn’t matter what they had responded.

“W-We had no other choice…” Cheryl tried to explain. However, it was the last thing she heard before she finally succumbed to her rage; Tabitha charged up both arms and sent electrical currents to their throats.

“Tabitha, no!!” Peter tried again. He had seen it unfold and couldn’t move. Her brown eyes seemed void; she was now on autopilot. Tabitha dropped the two and stormed out the room. Peter looked down at the two and knew that there was nothing he could do for them, the stench of burnt flesh already filling the room. At first, his objective was to get Tabitha to safety and worry about Alpha and the White Hairs later. Now, his goal was to stop her.

He left the main lab room and saw that she was nowhere to be found. Peter went down to the second floor and saw that she was being approached by two White Hairs. She did a Lightning Cloud towards the two and slammed them against the wall. They were in too much disbelief to attempt to shock her.

“Where… is Alpha…” she growled.

“We don’t know; we don’t know!” the girl’s shaky voice rang out through the hallway. Tabitha gave them a sinister grin.

“Wrong answer…” she immediately sent powerful waves of electricity through their bodies.

“Tabitha, stop!!” Peter yelled after her but she had long fallen deaf from rage, at least she had fallen deaf if it didn’t concern finding out where Alpha was. Others who heard the commotion came out to fight her but she immediately shocked them, using all of her energy. Peter had hoped that they had some serum in their system; if not, they were definitely dead.

She did a Lightning Cloud to the bottom floor and saw Alpha surrounded by a few White Hairs.

“Alpha!!!” she yelled out. Before everyone could turn around, she sent a massive wave of lightning towards the group; at that point, she cared less who got in the way: as long as she had hit Alpha. In her enraged state, she had forgotten that Alpha was the only one safe from her attacks; he looked down at the dead and unconscious teens and looked at her in surprise.

“Out-fucking-standing…” he smirked. She did a Lightning Cloud towards him and was face-to-face with the old general. She charged up, placed her hands on his face and let all of her energy loose. The attack sent him flying across the room. Before he could land, she met him with another Lightning Cloud and gave his face a roundhouse kick as hard as she could, sending him flying to the other side of the room. She was in his face yet again before he could hit the wall and punched him in the face.

When he finally got his grounding, Alpha backhanded her as hard as he could; it was enough to draw blood from her mouth. She spat at him, clasped her hands together and swung at his face, putting him on his back. She started to kick him, lightning striking his sides with every blow. Peter was not that amazed that he was actually being stunned by her attacks; he may have been able to absorb lightning but he doubted that Alpha was able to not feel the actual blows. Out the corner of his eye, he saw a couple of White Hairs coming to and immediately threw webbing at their hands and feet, just to make things fair.

She was about to unleash another fury of attacks to his side when Alpha suddenly caught her foot. He sent a bright flash of red to it and the energy cascaded through her body, making her drop to the floor in pain. He wrapped his hand around her neck and sent another painful wave into her body.

“Nice try, girl. I didn’t escape from stockade just to get overwhelmed by a mistake! And, **this** is the reason why I overdosed on that serum!” he picked her up by her throat and threw her across the room, “I was trying to be nice… but I see it’s impossible with you! You could’ve had all of this; **you** could’ve became the true alpha of everything!!” he started to rage. Peter swung over and kicked him in the face before he could attack her yet again. He quickly wrapped him up with his webs and rushed over to Tabitha. Before he could scoop her up in his arms, Alpha freed himself using his own powers and sent a streak of red towards the two, hitting Peter. He went over and lifted him up by his neck, “Stop interfering!” he flung him across the room. Tabitha looked up wearily only to be met with another flash of red. Peter recovered quickly and threw a web at his hand before he could attack Tabitha again. He swung over for another attack, his foot landing on Alpha’s jaw. Out of frustration, he threw a stream of red in Peter’s direction, narrowly missing him. He came up with a small plan, one that would keep Alpha away from Tabitha.

He swung back over, quickly kicked Alpha in the back and retreated towards the wall, triggering another discouraged stream of red his way. He smiled underneath his mask.

“What’s the matter, pal; can’t kill a spider?” he taunted. He went across the other side of the room in hopes that he would be followed. Irritated, Alpha sent stream after stream of red energy towards him, missing him by a wider margin than the last. It was working, Peter realized; he was getting tired. To make matters worse for Alpha, he jumped and crawled all over the room, every now and then coming in close range for an attack.

Alpha finally let out an infuriating growl and started to charge up. Peter landed on a wall and waited for the attack, slightly laughing.

“Eh… charge up all you want; it’s just going to go to waste…” he knew that it was enough to put him over the edge. Alpha released a massive sea of red streams towards him and Peter was lucky that he jumped out the way in time. He hadn’t realized that he was covering a mirror and watched in astonishment as the streams ricocheted off and went flying back towards Alpha. The surges engulfed him, making him yell out in pain. When he finally collapsed, Peter wrapped him up in a large web and went over to help his friend.

“Tabby Cat…” he sighed; she was barely moving. When he picked her up, she wearily smiled at him.

“Now… that’s what I call a web-slinging ass whooping![1]” she managed and he laughed.

* * *

[1]Taken from Marvel: Rise of the Imperfects video game. Actual quote is: “You know what we call that? We call that a web-slinging ass-kicking!”


	8. Closure

Gary “Alpha” First was taken into custody and sentenced for his crimes. Tabitha learned that he had indeed escaped from stockade; he had promised a guard to transform him: unfortunately, the serum and the procedure had deadly side effects. His journey to New York was similar to hers; while she went to find a cure, he was searching for a better antidote. Before trial, he had been ruled incompetent to stand trial and was pleaded guilty by way of insanity. It wasn’t the justice she had in mind for him but she was relieved that he would no longer be on the streets to cause any more damage to someone else.

The children that did survive the massive attack had luck on their side; Peter knew of a geneticist who was able to come up with a cure for them. Tabitha wanted to slap herself; all she had to do was confess to him in the beginning about what she was and he could’ve introduced the two earlier! Dr. Castillo secretly dealt with superheroes and had no problem performing the procedure to cure Tabitha as well.

She was excited yet nervous; she had only been fighting crime for a little over a year but it already came second nature to her. It was because of her mutant powers that she was even able to create the masterpieces in her art classes; she was going to miss that ability. On the other hand, she was getting exactly what she wanted: she was going to be normal again. She had so many options to look into after going back to normal; going back home was one of them.

Jamila knocked on the room door and let herself in. Tabitha was sitting up in the hospital bed, talking to Peter and Mary Jane. She smiled at the professor.

“Doc!” she received a huge hug from her friend, “What you doing here?”

“You actually thought I would miss this? No way!” she smiled. She switched glances from Tabitha to Peter and slightly blushed. Tabitha sighed a little and laughed.

“P, Dr. Lindsey; doc, P…” she introduced. The two shook hands.

“I hope you don’t mind that I know…” Jamila started but Peter shook his head.

“If Tabby Cat trusts you, then I trust you!” he smiled.

“I want to thank you… for looking after her like this…”

“Not my doing; I’m just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man…”

“I’m not a child, doc!” Tabitha said with exasperation but laughed along with the three, “Is it okay if I talk to P for a minute?” she looked at the two women. The two nodded and left the room. She looked at Peter and grabbed his hand, “I actually never got a chance to thank you, myself.”

“It was nothing; that’s what friends do, right?”

“P… you shouldn’t have been dragged into all this. I… fucked up, big time. I should’ve stopped and listened…” she tried to apologize. He hugged her tightly.

“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s my job?” he lightly smiled, “You know… we actually make one hell of a team. Castillo said that she could evaluate you more extensively; find out what’s really behind the rage. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” he asked her sincerely. She looked down at the bed for a moment and then back up at him.

“I really had fun; I did. But… I’m kinda tired. I wanna be normal, again. I wanna see my family. I don’t wanna have to always be careful not to shock someone whenever I touch ’em…” she told him. While it did become second nature to her, it was still a lot of work to go through the methods that Dr. Lindsey taught her in the beginning, “Maybe one day… I’ll get bit by a radioactive bug; get my powers legitimately…” she winked at him. He laughed and lightly pushed her.

“Funny!”

“You… never thought about being normal again?” she wondered. He shrugged the idea away.

“I kind of like being Spider-Man. I enjoy being a hero and helping people. I’m stronger than what I used to be. If I wasn’t Spider-Man… I would just be Peter Parker. Boring, average… weak Peter Parker.”

“Well… some of us actually like that boring, average… **smart** and practical Peter Parker.”

“If I remembered correctly… someone liked how Spider-Man looked in his suit…” he eyed her. She blushed but pushed him away as he laughed. A light knock on the door had both looking up. Dr. Castillo walked in and smiled at Tabitha.

“Miss Lyght, are we ready?” she asked. Tabitha sighed but gave her a smile.

“Cocked, locked and ready to rock!” 

* * *

A week had passed since she went through the procedure however she knew that something wasn’t right. Dr. Castillo insisted that she stayed in the hospital for almost around the clock observation. The pins and needles feeling was gone, which made her very hopeful. Unfortunately, it was the only thing that had left.

Dr. Castillo walked into her room with her all familiar smile. No matter the situation, she always tried to look optimistic about things.

“Miss Lyght, can you charge up for me?” she simply asked, closing the door. She wasn’t surprised to see the flow of currents form around her hands. Tabitha sighed and looked at the doctor.

“I don’t get it. You cured those kids, how come I’m not cured? Or… is this a slow-going process?”

“Tabitha… the procedure that I used on those children… it’s pretty much useless on you. Your strand is far more advanced which means a different procedure needs to be done. Which means…”

“More research…” she huffed out. Dr. Castillo slowly nodded.

“I’ll admit, the original procedure was not easy. So, this won’t be a walk in the park. You’ll have to stay here longer, let us run even more tests…” she explained further. Tabitha thought about her words. She knew not to ask how much longer; it had taken them a week to come up with the original antidote. She started debating if it would be worth staying in the hospital. It wouldn’t; she really needed to be home.

“Well… I guess that’s that, then.”

“Okay. I wasn’t sure if you would’ve been willing to…”

“I’m… not staying…” she decided. Dr. Castillo looked at her.

“You changed your mind about being cured?”

“No. I wanna get cured but… I need to see my family. I miss ‘em and… I gotta be with ‘em. They’ll just have to see me like this. They gotta know the truth about what happened to me. I got about a little under a year to get cured; I can put it on hold for a little bit.” she explained. Dr. Castillo sighed but nodded.

“If that’s how you really feel, Tabitha; I have no right to stop you. I’m pretty sure that Peter’s going to miss you.”

“Yeah. Do me a favor, doc: don’t tell him that the procedure didn’t work. Just… tell him that everything went fine and I just left early. I don’t need him worrying about things; I’ve done enough…” 

* * *

She looked around the bus depot and sighed a little. She turned down Dr. Lindsey’s offer to drive her to Chattanooga; it made no sense for her to do so. Although she didn’t like the last time she traveled by bus, she had no other choice. She looked at the board, noting the arrival and departure times for Chattanooga. Maybe she wanted to go back to Memphis; she knew that Jamila would have cursed her for talking her out of coming to get her but the children would be elated to have her back.

As she searched for Memphis, she ran across an unfamiliar town: Gotham City. Something tugged at her as she stared at the name, tried to sound it out in her mind. Something was there for her, she could feel it.

“Buying a ticket, miss?” the guy behind the counter asked, not bothering to look up from his newspaper. She kept her eyes on the board.

“Yeah. A one-way ticket to Gotham City in the morning.” she finally decided. It was enough to make the man look up from his newspaper and study her in more detail.

“Hmm. You don’t look like someone from Gotham City…”

“And… that means I can’t get a ticket…?” it made her decision even more intriguing; people from Gotham City had a certain look? She was definitely interested in going to the city, then!

She had arrived in Gotham City the next afternoon. It was actually a large island, and while both New York and New Jersey fought for the rights to the island, it was technically located in New Jersey[1]. There were two bridges that connected the city to the “outside world”; she had arrived via the northern New Trigate Bridge that connected Gotham City to New York. She didn’t know if it was a good or a bad thing that the first thing the bus passed by was a place called Arkham Asylum; she tried to put her attention elsewhere, telling herself that she would avoid the area as much as possible.

When she thought about it, the city really stayed true to its name; when Tabitha first heard of Gotham City, the one word that went through her head was “gothic”. As she got off the bus, she noticed that there was a slight haze that lingered in the area; she actually noticed it when they were within the city limits. The overall atmosphere seemed grim and dark, even though the sun was out. Gothic-like buildings reigned in Gotham City, some looking more than a hundred years old. She didn’t like the vibe coming from the downtown area so she kept a close tab on her bags.

Something had been bothering her the entire trip to Gotham City. She knew that she had to call Jamila and let her know of her change of plans… but there was someone else she needed to speak to…

“Lyght residence.” the way her mother answered the phone hadn’t changed, not even in tone. It was as if she was answering her office phone; polite and professional. Tabitha wiped at her eyes and cleared her throat.

“… Mom…” she smiled.

“… T-Tabitha…? Oh, dear Lord; Tabby, is this really you?!”

“Yeah; hi, mom…”

“CURTIS!!” it was the first time she ever heard emotion in her mother’s voice, “Curtis, pick up the phone; it’s our daughter!!” she yelled. Tabitha heard the other phone being picked up.

“I hope this isn’t some trick…” her father’s voice was strong and stern, as always. She couldn’t help it; the tears fell down her cheeks.

“H-hey, daddy…” she was almost choked up.

“Oh… it **is** her! I know my sweetheart’s voice! Baby, where are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you in jail? Are you even in the states…” the questions sprayed out of her mother’s mouth. She laughed a bit.

“Mom, mom, mom; I’m fine! I’m fine…” she tried to reassure. She took a deep breath; she just wanted to let them know that she was at least still alive, “There’s a lot I gotta tell you guys… but I can’t right now…”

“Are you on the run? Is the line tapped? Is that why you can’t say anything?” her dad’s deep southern twang made her laugh a little.

“Daddy! No! I’m not on the run and I’m not in any trouble. It’s just… it’s just that what I have to tell you is too much to tell you over the phone.”

“Oh, honey; come home, then…” her mother pleaded. She shook her head and realized that they couldn’t see her doing so.

“I can’t. Not right now. I got some… things to take care of before I do.” she lied. She had no idea what she would find in Gotham City; all she knew was that she had a nagging feeling to be there instead of back in Tennessee.

“Liv, she’s pregnant. Our baby girl’s pregnant…”

“Wait… WHAT?!”

“… you’re not thinking about getting rid of the baby, are you?! Tabitha Nicole Lyght, if you take away my grandbaby…”

“ **MOM**! I’m not pregnant; geez!” she sighed and slightly laughed; it was like them to be overdramatic and automatically assume things, “I’ll come home soon; I promise. And then I can explain everything…”

It took her thirty minutes to persuade her parents not to call any of her brothers but she still walked out of the bus depot with a smile on her face; at least they knew that she was fine. However, now she had a bigger problem at hand: where to go in this dank city. She had to admit that she hadn’t thought this all the way through: she didn’t have a place to stay or even a job. She knew that the professor would give her a few bucks here and there but she didn’t want to depend on her for that.

She had quickly studied the map inside of the bus depot; she didn’t want to look like a tourist. Coming out of the station, she opted to go left instead of towards the Gotham City Police Department.; she figured that nothing good would be in that area as it was (she had noticed a trend in every city that the zones surrounding police stations weren’t always the best of neighborhoods). She walked until she saw a massive building, one that actually looked modern. “Wayne Enterprises” the sign read; she had noticed that quite a few areas had “Wayne” in them and deducted that they either were early settlers of the city or the ones who ran the city currently, money-wise.

She slightly shrugged as she walked inside the building; it would be the perfect place to look for a job. She looked around and soon felt extremely out of place; everyone there was in business attire. She, on the other hand, was wearing a long sleeved shirt, blue jeans and her signature head wrap. Her book bag was idly flung across one shoulder and her army green duffle bag over the other; she felt like a bum.

 Tabitha received an immediate scoff from a security guard after she passed through the double panel security tower; she found it odd that it didn’t go off.

“Do you have any business here?” he wasted no time being rude with her. Tabitha slightly raised an eyebrow and put the thought of giving him a quick shock to the back of her mind; it would only provoke the other guard sitting at the adjacent desk.

“Not really. I was just wondering if you knew of any jobs…”

“You can go to the library; post an application and résumé there.” he all but physically pushed her away. She held her tongue as she turned away; maybe she didn’t want to work there, after all, she thought to herself. She was too busy fuming in her head about how he treated her that she bumped into someone.

“Oh! Sorry…” she apologized and looked at the man. He was actually what she had expected of a typical Hollywood movie star: tall, somewhat tanned, lean and very handsome. He was dressed somewhat business casual, wearing dark slacks with a matching jacket that was open. His cream dress shirt was unbuttoned at the top, the collar laying perfectly against the jacket’s collar. He gave her a warm smile, his blue eyes gleaming.

“No problem. You’re… not from here, are you?”

“… No…” she gave him a look. Was he trying to hit on her, she wondered. If he was, she had to give him one thing; he was not wasting any time! Not that she was getting offended about a handsome stranger flirting with her; it was a far cry from how she was treated a few seconds ago, “Why you ask?”

“Well, two things actually give it away. Your accent, for one. Southern?”

“Born and raised! Tennessee.”

“Ah; great mountains…” it looked as if he was remembering a specific time. Tabitha shrugged. She knew that Chattanooga was surrounded by mountains; the main expressway actually cut through the Appalachian Mountains.

“I’m a city girl so… only connection I have with ‘em is driving through ‘em!” she confessed. It made the man lightly chuckle, “What’s the other thing?”

“Everyone knows me here. Bruce Wayne…” he introduced himself with a smile. She gave him another look, one that showed that while she was appreciative that he introduced himself, she had no idea why he felt that he was so important. She shook his hand regardless but then realized his name.

“… Wayne? As in… the name of this building and the fifty million other things around here, Wayne?” she asked. His chuckle turned into a full laugh.

“In the flesh! Don’t feel bad; I enjoyed the fact that you didn’t know me.” he saw that she had a look of embarrassment on her face, “What brings you here, Miss…”

“Lyght; Tabitha Lyght.” she felt that it was safe for her to reveal her actual identity, “Well… I was looking for a job…” she stopped herself; she didn’t want to seem that she was stooping so low to ask him, the owner of the building for a job.

It made Bruce think for a moment.

“I think I can find something for you, depending on if you have any skills. I have a quick meeting to tend to but… if you want to wait around, I can take you to my office.”

The two were walking down the hallway that led to his office on the top floor. After studying and making art for a while, she marveled at the work on this floor. The paintings depicted different scenes from around the world; Tabitha knew that she would have to ask Bruce about them once she was more comfortable around him. In the meantime, she thought about exactly what skills she possessed that wouldn’t hint to the fact that she was mutant. The thought made her stop in her tracks.

“Mr. Wayne… I really hate to criticize…” she started. He turned and looked at her.

“By all means; I like constructive criticism.”

“Your security tower could go for an upgrade.” she almost mumbled. He slightly ran his hand through his jet black shortly styled hair.

“Oh? That’s odd; I have the top security system known to man…”

“Then why didn’t it go off when I walked through the door?” she calmly asked. It wasn’t until then that he noticed that she was carrying two bags; he had been so intrigued that the southern stranger had no idea who he was to take notice of anything else.

She saw that his attention went straight to her bags and smiled, “I ain’t carrying a bomb or weapon or anything like that! It’s just my laptop and my tools in here…” she patted her book bag, “And my clothes in this one.” she continued. He was curious as to what “tools” she had in her small bag.

“Hmm; a glitch in the system… I’ll have to get someone to look at that. Thank you for pointing it out, Tabitha.”

“If you don’t mind, Mr. Wayne… I could look for you…”

“You specialize in security systems?”

“A bit of electronic engineering, actually.” she stretched the truth. While Jamila had suggested that she hold off on engineering, Tabitha took the time to look up electronic engineering on her own. She figured that since she was manipulating metals and fabrics, how hard was it to fiddle with wires, “It could just be a loose wire or something.”

“You may be right. I take it that you have your tools in that bag of yours?” he asked. She answered with a nod and a smile, “Handy. Okay; I’ll let you take a look at it.”

“… Right now?”

“Of course. The sooner, the better.”

She had enjoyed the fact that the rude guard, Simon had to idly stand by, biting his tongue as he watched her dismantle a portion of the security tower. She studied the wires and smiled.

“Thought so! Loose wire, Mr. Wayne; quite a few of ‘em…”

“Like someone’s tampered with them?”

“Nah. If someone would’ve messed with ‘em, they would’ve been fried or missing altogether. Whoever made these, made ‘em poorly. I can… fuse ‘em to where it won’t happen again… ever.” she continued to study the maze of circuits and wires. Bruce raised his eyebrows.

“Really!”

“Sir, do you really think that’s safe; we don’t know her…” Simon quickly added. Bruce glanced at her and then back at his security guard. It **was** a bold statement; was she really that good?

“I want to see her at least try. Wouldn’t do any harm; they’re not working properly, anyway. Go ahead.” he nodded towards her. She smiled, tried not to squeal for joy and went through her bag for her tools. She put on her safety goggles and gloves.

“It’ll only take a minute…” she almost didn’t finish her sentence; she was already placing the fake mini soldering gun on individual wires, actually applying her lightning to them. Bruce was curious and watched in amazement as the wires were fused finely and precisely. He wondered what type of soldering gun she had; it was producing small sparks that he felt were too close to her hands, even with the gloves on. When he saw that she wasn’t complaining or even flinching, he tried to calm his mind and continue watching. He thought about talking her into letting him manufacture her gun; it was clear that it was homemade.

Before he could ask about it, Tabitha was inspecting her work, putting everything back into its compressed compartment, “There ya go, Mr. Wayne.” she tugged her goggles off. She looked around and grabbed a paper clip off the guards’ desk. Bruce looked at her; something as small as a paper clip would have no problem slipping through, he thought. He wanted to eat his words as she walked through the tower and it immediately went off. Both guards let out a whistle of amusement.

“… Tabitha, is it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re hired, Tabitha.”

  


* * *

[1]http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Gotham_City


	9. A New Beginning

She turned down the idea of becoming head of security (while deep down, she would’ve looked forward to giving Simon hell day in and day out); it wasn’t what Bruce Wayne wanted her to do, anyway. Tabitha was hired as the head electrician of Wayne Enterprises. While it wasn’t a glorious job, it paid a glorious salary. She liked the fact that Bruce understood her situation and helped her get an apartment in the Financial District; seeing that he owned the building, the two made an agreement that she would pay double rent when she received her first paycheck. The district overlooked the City Hall District and wasn’t as crime-filled as the areas surrounding the Upper East Side and points north. Via the city buses, it only took her around twenty minutes to report in to work every morning.

She didn’t know why he was so nice to her; instead of giving her a hassle about her head wrap, he let her keep it on as long as it was navy blue, the color of the uniforms the independent electricians had to wear. When he saw that she could do the work of six men, Bruce downsized his contractors and made Tabitha responsible for the upgrade and upkeep of any and everything electrical/electronic in Wayne Tower. After a month of living and working in Gotham, Bruce expanded her expertise to upgrade any building that had his name on it. The majority of the jobs were simple like the security tower one; she could upgrade roughly fifteen towers within an hour. Others were more complicated, like working on computer servers or even upgrading the lighting of an entire building.

She had just finished rewiring the lighting of her boss’s office. She turned to retrieve her toolbox only to see him holding it. She smiled at him.

“Evening, Mr. Wayne! Just finished up here.”

“You already finished the other job…?”

“Two hours ago. Figured that this room needed a bit of work done. Now, when you turn your lights on, they won’t be so dim!” she smiled. He could only shake his head in amazement and looked at the various lights in his office.

“And to think; I figured that I only needed new light bulbs…” he actually laughed.

“It took me a while but I just reconfigured the wiring so that it won’t burn so much electricity as well.” she told him. She slightly looked at Bruce with her toolbox, “Walking me to my next job, boss?”

“No… you’re done for the day.”

“But…”

“I was wondering, Miss Lyght… have you visited the Fashion District yet?” he cut her off. She blinked a couple of times at him.

“Uh, no. I’ve been meaning to take a tour but, ah; I don’t wanna run into a bad neighborhood!”

“Good thinking! Well, I’m meeting a friend there; would you like to join me?” he asked. Did he just ask me out, she mused. Bruce Wayne was definitely a handsome man; it was the first thing that everyone took notice of. She had to admit that with that fact alone, she wouldn’t mind being seen in public with him.

It wasn’t the fact that he was really nice to her that made her really like her new boss. It was the fact that he was so down to earth to be the richest man in Gotham City; one of the richest people in the world for that matter. He had enough money to throw away but he always came to work almost casually dressed (although she had a feeling that one of his shirts cost more than her parent’s home). She had heard rumors of him being a party animal; the typical filthy rich bachelor that stayed up all night, partying or on a date with a different, beautiful, exotic model every week. She actually had a hard time believing it; in the daytime, he seemed as mild-mannered as Peter. Looks could be deceiving, she reminded herself. For all she knew, Bruce Wayne could’ve been nothing more but a gorgeous face with loads of money.

“Sure.”

The Fashion District lived up to its name; it was one of the few areas that looked up-to-date. It was home to all of the modern fashion boutiques, fashion designers and supermodels who could afford to live there. It was why she almost gawked at the diner that the two walked inside of. It was a classic 50’s diner, complete with large windows, red and white squared linoleum and red leather retro seats.

He saw her face expression and smirked.

“This is one of my favorite places to eat.”

“Really!” it shocked her.

“Yes. It’s been here ever since I was a kid.” he nodded. She would’ve expected him to prefer one of the restaurants in her neighborhood; ones where she wouldn’t go in because she didn’t have the money or a date, “Just because I’m rich doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the simple things in life. Besides… the coffee’s great here.”

“Sold!”

The two sat in a booth by one of the massive windows, talking, laughing and drinking coffee when she noticed who she believed to be an undercover police officer walk inside; the guy was still wearing his holster. He was striking, being tall and muscular with a chocolate brown complexion. His eyes matched her own whiskey brown color, as he immediately noticed her and quickly smiled.

Bruce noticed that Tabitha had reddened a bit and turned to look at who had grabbed her attention. He smiled at the officer.

“Ethan…” he greeted him as he made his way to the booth. He gave Bruce a quick handshake but put his attention back on the woman. Bruce chuckled, “Ethan, this is Tabitha Lyght. Tabitha, this is my good friend, Detective Ethan Bennett.” he introduced. She stuck her hand out and smiled, expecting a handshake. However, Ethan gently grabbed her hand and pressed his full lips on them, making her slightly flustered.

“A pleasure.” he smiled and sat beside her, “I’m curious as to what you’re doing here with this bum…” he tried; he knew that his friend was very popular with attractive women but had a feeling that she was different. Bruce rolled his eyes at his comment.

“She’s my new head technician. Actually… she’s about to be my only one.” he confessed. Ethan and Tabitha looked at him.

“Really?” Ethan asked for her, “It’s not too much for you to handle?” he asked her. She was surprised at what Bruce said; after only a month, he was promoting her. It warmed her that he had that much confidence in her so soon; she took a sip of her coffee and smiled.

“A piece of cake! Mr. Wayne wouldn’t put too much on my plate to handle.”

“Hmm… I really like that southern accent.” he actually looked deeper into her eyes. He cleared his throat when he saw that she tried to shy away from him, “You actually call him ‘Mr. Wayne’? He’s no one special! Seriously, Bruce is a good guy but he has this annoying habit of expecting a lot out of everyone…” he smiled at Bruce.

“Thanks…” he smirked.

* * *

She was glad for the day off; she made plans on doing nothing but sit around the house. She didn’t like the fact that she had no friends; she would’ve enjoyed having a bit of company. There were a couple of people in the apartment building that spoke to her but they were just friendly like that; she didn’t want to feel awkward and try to invite them out for lunch.

As her bagels popped out of the toaster, there was a knock on the door. At that moment, she really wished she had Peter’s spider senses but threw that thought to the back of her mind; the only two people that knew where she lived were Jamila and Bruce. She grabbed a shirt and wrapped it around her hair, just in case it was Bruce.

“Oh… detective; everything okay?” she was actually happy to see Ethan. He stared at her in awe; she looked stunning in a black tank top and silk pajama pants. She donned another head wrap, he noticed and reminded himself to ask her about it later.

“I was just in the neighborhood. I wanted to ask what you were doing in a few hours, say lunchtime. Maybe you’d like a quick tour of Gotham?” he smiled. She found out that only visitors called the city by its full name; many of the locals shortened it to just plain Gotham.

His question made her smile; he just asked her on a date, she happily thought. She was really attracted to him and enjoyed the attention he had given her the day they met. She realized that she wanted nothing more than to go out on a date with the detective. She leaned on her doorframe and smiled wider at what she really realized.

“That sounds really nice. But, um… how’d you know where I lived, though?” she asked. He returned her smile.

“I’m a detective, remember?” he looked deeply into her eyes. She couldn’t help but to slightly melt.

“Hmm… an interesting start to a good relationship…”

After a quick tour, the two rested on a bench by Amusement Mile. It was on the outskirts of one of the rough neighborhoods but Ethan had assured her that she was safe with him. She held in her giggles as she thought that she would have a better chance of protecting **him**!

She glanced at the rides in the park for a moment and then put her attention back to him, who couldn’t stop staring at her. She smiled at him.

“Thanks for the tour.”

“No problem. Unfortunately, I can’t show you everything in an hour.”

“It’s okay. Must be pretty hard being a cop around here…”

“It has its moments. Not as bad as it used to be a few years back. Don’t let how the city looks fool you; it’s not all that bad here.”

“Huh. So… what happened to change things?” she was curious. Ethan let out a small laugh.

“The Batman…” he couldn’t help smiling a little, shaking his head. She feigned a weird look; how did she know that they had their own superhero as well?

“The… ‘Batman’…?”

“Gotham’s own vigilante.”

“You don’t sound too happy about it…”

“It’s difficult for some of us. Our police chief wants no room for vigilante justice; doesn’t matter if he’s a part of the Justice League or not. He thinks it makes us all look bad.”

“Justice League…?” her question wasn’t fake. He smirked at her.

“You’re so cute when you look clueless like that!” he made her blush, “Seriously?”

“I’ve never been interested in superheroes and stuff like that.”

“You almost sound like our chief…”

“I said I wasn’t interested; never said that they were a bad idea! He’s a good guy, right?”

“Well… he makes our job less stressful, if you ask me. I really don’t mind it, especially since he’s willing to take on the freaks.”

“Who is he; does anyone know?” she asked. Ethan looked straight ahead and shrugged.

“The million dollar question! Could be anyone in Gotham. The chief’s made it our number one priority to stop him.”

“He’s been around for a few years? Hmm…” she thought about it. Was the vigilante **that** elusive? If he was a mutant, it was possible, she thought. If not, he would have to be a few steps ahead of the police department. Tabitha perked up and smiled at Ethan; it was a possibility, “Detective… are **you** The Batman?” she had to ask. It would be her luck that the man she had a sudden attraction to was a superhero vigilante. It would make it so much easier for her to tell him about herself and her mutation, as well as her small stint as a super heroine back in New York. He looked at her, wide-eyed and laughed.

“This is the second time I had to remind you that I’m a detective!”

“All the reason why it would make sense that it’s you! All these years and **no one’s** caught him?” she raised an eyebrow at him. He slightly chuckled.

“It’s not me; trust me. But, now that you put it that way… it **could** be someone on the force…”

“But, not you?”

“Afraid not.”

“Damnit! Oh, well; wishful thinking…” she looked across the Gotham River. A few miles away was Bruce’s home, Wayne Manor. It was barely noticeable from where they sat but it was the fact that she was able to see a hint of it that put in perspective of how big his home was.

“Wishful thinking? I thought you said you weren’t interesting in superheroes…”

“I know but… just thought it would be cool if you were The Batman, you know? I could be dating The Batman…” her smile widened. It was a good thought, she felt. It made Ethan laugh hard and blush.

“Well, it’s good to know that you’re looking forward to dating me!” he mused. It really was good to know; it made him very hopeful that he had impressed her enough to make her think about it. He looked at his watch and realized how fast time flew, “Ready to head back?” he asked her, getting up. He offered his hand for her as she nodded.

“Let’s not kid each other, detective; we’re already really attracted to each other. We’re not teenagers no more, either. And, unless you’re already spoken for…”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Nope. So, it’s settled, then!” she smiled. He looked at her and smiled back. They had only spent maybe a couple of hours total with each other but they both felt that it was right. She was right, he reasoned; they weren’t emotionally wreaked teenagers. He pulled her closer to him by her hand.

“Hmm… I guess so. You southerners sure do move fast…” he continued to smile as he inched even closer to her face. Her heartbeat quickened as she prepared for the kiss. She was about to close her eyes until a shrill scream filled the air. It made Ethan quickly look up and narrow his eyes at the masked man running towards them, carrying an obviously stolen purse. The woman behind the man continued to scream for help; her high heels no match for his sneakers. Tabitha turned to take in the situation and when she turned back, she saw that Ethan already had his hand underneath his police-issued jacket, getting ready to draw his weapon. She laid a gentle hand over his, making him look at her in slight confusion. She knew that the robber wouldn’t risk barreling into the two and waited until she saw him in her peripherals.

Before Ethan could react, he saw that Tabitha slightly stuck her leg out, tripping the guy. She made sure that she applied a bit of lightning as she did so, which made him give her an unknowing glare. Tabitha returned the stare, only colder, which told him everything that he needed to know; he **did** feel a small shock and it **did** come from her foot! Without saying a word, the masked man scrambled up and ran away, not worrying about the purse anymore. The woman finally made it to the two, out of breath and grabbing her purse off the ground.

“O-oh… t-thank you; thank you very much!”

“No problem, ma’am…” she slightly smiled. Ethan almost laughed; with her thick accent, he imagined her in a cowboy hat, giving it a light tip towards the woman. As the woman left, Tabitha drew her attention back to Ethan who was giving her a warm smile. He lowered his hand from underneath his jacket and placed it over hers.

“He’s getting away; I have a duty to uphold…” he told her. She slightly shrugged.

“No harm, no foul. Pretty sure he’ll do something else stupid soon.”

“Why did you stop me?”

“There wasn’t a need to pull out your gun. You would’ve given chase and would’ve forgot what we were about to do.” she explained. He pulled her closer to him.

“Highly doubt it!” he leaned in once more to kiss her. When they heard a car pull up, they both moaned out their dissatisfaction. He was about to ignore everything and simply kiss the woman until he looked out the corner of his eye. It was a squad car and his partner, Detective Ellen Yin stuck her head out the window. She was a transfer from the Metropolis Police Department but they had been partners for a couple of years. She was oriental with jet black long hair pulled up in a ponytail. Her maple brown eyes stared at the two in curiosity before turning back serious.

“Bennett; we gotta roll…” she made sure it was short and sweet. He thought against introducing the two; Ethan knew that when Yin talked like that, it was important. He gave Tabitha an apologetic look.

“I’ll see you later?”

“You’re the detective; you know where to find me!” she winked at him. He laughed and before he could rush off, Ethan quickly but gently placed his lips on hers, giving her a lingering kiss.

“Before I forget, right? I’ll see you later, Miss Lyght.”

* * *

“Hmm… Alfred, take a look at this.” he summoned. Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce’s longtime guardian and butler approached the large screen his master was looking at; the two were at the Batcomputer. Being broadcasted was a picture of a young woman in military uniform along with numerous documentations. It wasn’t like him to not do a background check immediately before hiring new personnel however he was highly impressed with her work. It wasn’t until he made the decision that he would want to promote her yet again that he realized he needed to do a background check on her, “Tabitha Lyght: she’s from where she says she’s from. She never mentioned that she was in the military…” it actually explained her toned physique. He was curious as to why she never mentioned it before.

“Is that a problem, sir?”

“Actually… no. She got an honorable discharge so everything’s fine there. The problem is that she said she knows a bit about electronic engineering. Looking under her name, I find nothing; no classes taken, no degree or anything like that: just that she was in the Army. But, under her social…” he typed it in. More documents appeared on the screen, “She dropped out of Columbia University… under the last name Lindsay.” he finished explaining. Alfred looked at the documents and thought.

“Maybe the young lady was married at the time…”

“There’s no record of it.”

“What if the marriage was annulled? There would definitely be no record of it.”

“… You’re right. But… why keep the last name?”

“Matters of the heart, Master Bruce…” it sounded like he was teasing him. Bruce rolled his eyes and sighed a little, “A current suspect?”

“No; a current employee. The best electrician I’ve ever seen, really. I shouldn’t be mad about not finding any degree or certification for electronic engineering; she knows what she’s doing. It’s just that…now that I’m digging, there’s something about her…”

“Be careful that she is not out to sabotage any equipment, sir.”

“She wouldn’t do that. She didn’t even know who I was when we first met! Besides, I check behind her work; it’s perfect. She’s literally made everything indestructible! There’s just something about her; something that she’s hiding…” 

* * *

Ethan planted a tender kiss on Tabitha’s forehead and sighed heavily.

“If it ain’t one thing, it’s another!” she sighed with him.

“I’ll come by after all this is done… is that okay?”

“Of course, it’s okay!” she smiled and hugged him, “The life of a cop…”

“I guess that’s why most of us aren’t married!”

“Hmph! Be safe…”

“Always!” he smiled, gave her a tender kiss on her lips and left. She sighed and went into the bedroom, let down that their night had been cut short, again. Ugh; it’s not fair, she scowled, taking her head wrap off. Of all the people in Gotham City that she could’ve dated, she chose a detective; one that was being hounded by their chief of police to track down The Batman at whatever cost. It made her wish that she could help out…

Instead of going to her dresser, she went into her closet, digging out the only physical evidence she had of her crime-fighting days; her outfit. She started to reminisce about when she would don the suit almost nightly, in hopes of capturing Alpha and the White Hairs. She thought of Peter and silently cursed herself; she had Jamila keep in contact with him instead of herself: she knew that he would only go to Gotham and try to talk her into coming back to New York. She had heard that he was having his hands full, dealing with a symbiotic suit that tried to take him over but ended up taking over the mind and body of another Daily Bugle photographer, Eddie Brock; he was now known as Venom.

The all too familiar sirens of the GCPD stopped her trip down memory lane. She thought about Ethan’s safety and how the chief, Angel Rojas was always breathing down his and his partner’s neck about capturing and unmasking The Batman. As she put her outfit on, she felt a determination that she would help her boyfriend out as much as she could. She would be the one to catch The Batman or at least show that the vigilante wasn’t bad at all. Tying her mask tight, she took a deep breath and did a Lightning Cloud out of her window.

Her exhilarating tour was stopped short as she noticed a commotion in an alleyway. She shuddered; a reminder of her mutant beginnings. Tabitha had passed by numerous alleyways but this one seemed different. She hid in the dark corners and watched as two men fought. She watched in bewilderment as she immediately recognized the first man: The Batman. His suit was grey, highlighted with black trunks, boots and jagged gloves. His hooded cape was black with a dark blue undertone, flowing to the ground; the hood formed around his face, exposing his jawline only and formed in pointed ears on the top of his head. Yeah, that’s a bat, she reminded herself. The other hint was the black bat symbol encased in a golden oval in the middle of his chest. The caped crusader also wore a gold utility belt snugly around his waist. She wondered if he was in the same field of work as she was and made a mental note to ask Bruce if he had any clue who The Batman could be.

The other character kept her attention as well. His skin was pasty, as if he was wearing white clown makeup. His wild, green hair moved like large dreadlocks as he fought back with The Batman, his red eyes and facial expression wild with insanity. She knew that **something** was wrong with him; he wore no shoes. Just a purple-sleeved straitjacket, blue jeans and black fingerless gloves.

She stayed hidden and watched as The Batman held his own against the Halloween character’s monkey-style of fighting; she had to admit that she was impressed with his fighting style. The tables were turned when he blew some type of green mist, distracting The Batman and went on an all-out assault. She had seen enough of the attack and came out of the shadows, prompting both to look at her. Tabitha tilted her head and smiled.

“Oh, I get it now; a joker!” she realized. He gave her a disappointed look and gave her an over exaggerated bow.

“It’s just ‘Joker’. And… who might you be?” he asked. Her smile widened as she approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Your worst nightmare[1]…” she looked him dead in the eyes and sent a shock through his body. He slightly yelled out in pain, collapsing to the ground. The Batman glanced in slight amusement as she looked and smiled at him.

“Thanks…” he mumbled; another reminder that maybe she should start trying to disguise her own voice: his was low, raspy and definitely unrecognizable.

“The Batman…” she at first winced at her clichéd attempt at a sultry voice. She shrugged in her mind; it was better than nothing! She glanced at Joker, who was still on the ground in pain, “You really had your hands… full…?” she turned and saw that he had disappeared, “A man of little words… very smart…”

The small shock that she had given Joker helped her make the decision to go back to being a super heroine. She actually missed it and had to admit that it was thrilling to have helped The Batman out. The second thing she decided was to retire her first outfit. She enlisted Jamila’s help and the two came up with a simple design: instead of a crop top (she learned the hard way that it wasn’t the best of ideas during the New York winters), she opted for a black long sleeved top made from synthetic fibers. Tabitha ditched her ACU pants for a pair of black leggings made of the same synthetic material; she even redesigned her mask using the same fibers; she liked the way the material felt as well as how it insulated her natural body heat. The choice of color was the professor’s idea; the way Tabitha had described Gotham, she felt that it was a great idea to make her try to blend into her surroundings.

As usual, Tabitha met Bruce for lunch in the Fashion District; the 50’s diner had become her favorite spot: it was where she met Ethan.

“So… I see you’re seeing more and more of the detective…” Bruce gave her a sly look over his cup of coffee. She slightly blushed as she ate her French fries.

“Uh… you **do** know that we’re dating, right?”

“I know… just teasing you…” he smiled. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Whatever! We’re seeing as much of each other as GCPD will let us…” she didn’t mean for it to be a joke but he laughed anyway. She had a good point, he thought. With Chief Rojas so adamant about capturing and/or unmasking The Batman, it meant longer hours for his good friend and his partner. He really wished that he could make less appearances but certain situations came up that GCPD definitely couldn’t handle without him.

He was reminded of the close call he received a few nights prior with Joker; had the “electric girl” not shown up, he would’ve fallen prey to his Joker Gas. Another vigilante, he mused. How she conjured up lightning interested him and he wondered if the two would cross paths, again. She was harmless enough… she seemed almost excited to meet him and took care of Joker without even thinking. It was her hair, however, that almost put him in a trance; perfectly white.

He looked at his head electrician and studied her head wrap. Always a t-shirt wrapped around and tied in a tight bun in the back; today’s color was red.

“Tabitha… why do you wear a shirt around your head?” he was really curious. He didn’t have a problem with it; he actually thought it was cute. However, with the mysterious aura that lingered on her, he had to know more about her.

“Oh… it’s a fashion statement in the south. Lots of chicks wear it, saying that it was quicker than fooling with their hair all the time! I figured, what the hell; I ain’t got time to be messing with my hair all the damn time!” she explained in her hard-to-miss, thick southern accent. He just smiled. Her accent was natural; it would’ve been pretty hard to hide it. The electric girl’s voice was sultry, a bit seductive; it wasn’t Tabitha.

“I want to ask you something. I was wondering if you would want to take another important job.” he changed the subject.

“You’re the boss, Mr. Wayne…”

“And, no more of that ‘Mr. Wayne’ stuff! Aren’t we friends?”

“… We are…?”

“You think that these are business lunches?” he laughed, “Anyway… I would like for you to upgrade my security system…”

“I thought that’s what I’ve been doing…”

“… In my home. I want you to work your magic in Wayne Manor.” he clarified. She almost dropped her cup of coffee.

“…… why…?”

“Seriously? Your work is unbelievable. I don’t know how you’ve done it but you’ve made all of my buildings burglarproof **AND** unhackable! I’d like for my home to be the same…” he said. She could do nothing but blink a few times at him. It surprisingly warmed her to know that Bruce Wayne trusted her to do her delicate work on his personal system. She smiled.

“You can count on me, Mr. Wa… er… Bruce.”

* * *

[1]This quote has been associated with Batman in some form or fashion for a while. However, he technically doesn’t say this until Batman: The Animated Series, in episode “Pretty Poison”.


	10. Learn Something New Everyday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *All Gotham City characters described are from the cartoon "The Batman".*

She actually enjoyed being Bruce Wayne’s personal electrician. Along with dating his best friend, it made the two become good friends. It made her realize that she didn’t have his upbringing so she found it odd that the two were friends. She wouldn’t fit in with his other filthy rich associates. Then again, she had to realize that Bruce was definitely different from any rich bachelor she had seen portrayed in the movies.

Bruce Wayne was very different, despite what others thought of him. His forefathers actually were one of the first settlers in Gotham, which made him the actual prodigal son. His parents, however were brutally murdered in front of him when he was just a young boy and Alfred had a major part in raising him. She felt bad for him; he was really the last of the Waynes. Tabitha had always secretly hoped that the man would settle down and continue the name.

Despite the early tragedy, he had pulled himself together and made the decision that it wouldn’t be something that would completely ruin him. However, he didn’t let the fame and money get to his head. Tabitha saw that he was really a normal guy. Of course, he would dine in the finest restaurants, had the largest and most expensive home in Gotham (to his credit, Wayne Manor had been passed down generation after generation) and even attended the theatre for a night of opera on several occasions; these were the things that people expected for him to do.

Tabitha saw that those were very trivial things to him; the homey 50’s diner was where he was most comfortable if not at home. As she became his good friend, she saw what others didn’t; just about everything that the media and gossip columns “caught” him doing was a sham; a front to keep up with his rich, arrogant playboy tag. She didn’t understand why he did it… or why the media never caught on to it. Every time he was pictured with another beautiful woman (or sometimes women) on his arm, it was the same: they were all smiles, he looked… bored. The real Bruce Wayne was the one who sat and drank coffee with his technician and her detective boyfriend every other day in the diner, the one who looked happy whenever he contributed or gave back to Gotham.

When she finally got to take a look inside Wayne Manor, “impressed” was an understatement! She knew that the estate was large; she never imagined just how large. Tabitha had never been in a home as big as Wayne Manor and it puzzled her as to why a single man and his butler would want or even need so much space. When she thought about it, it made her wish she never took the job; she would be busy nonstop with upgrades to this massive home!

She didn’t know how she found the time to moonlight as a super heroine; even if Bruce was lenient and tried to cut her days short, she still wanted to spend as much (or as little) time with Ethan. Nevertheless; whenever their time was cut short, she would be out and about, attempting to help The Batman as much as she could. It seemed as though every night there was a different freak villain trying to defeat the man; they were just as adamant about taking him down as GCPD was! However, seeing that the city was filled with so many of them, it made her feel much better about being a mutant, herself!

Yet again, she had found The Batman having trouble with another villain. This one she recognized as Mr. Freeze, another genetically altered mutant. She knew that he was once a bank robber but old habits die hard; he had begun robbing the jewelry stores as of late. When she saw that he was encased halfway in a block of ice, Tabitha did a Lightning Cloud towards the two. Taking his attention off of The Batman, Mr. Freeze threw an ice blast towards her. She dodged it right on time and gotten a better look at the iceman, her first time ever doing so. He had what looked like a block of spiked ice protecting his head; the only thing she could see was a silhouette and glowing red eyes.

“Ah; the ‘lightning girl’ everyone’s been talking about. Hmm… I get to destroy two pests in one night!” it seemed like he was excited at the thought. Another ray of ice was sent her way and she had to do a Lightning Cloud to miss it. Tabitha was closer and noticed another useful detail about the robber.

“A suit…” she smiled. She sent a burst of lightning his way before thinking about it, shocking Mr. Freeze unconscious. She hoped that she hadn’t killed him, quickly checking on him as she made her way over to The Batman. She put her attention fully on him and almost couldn’t contain her smile, “Let’s see… I believe that’s seven in a row, pal! But, who’s counting?” she couldn’t help laying on some of Peter’s cockiness in her voice. He was too cold to even roll his eyes, shivering slightly.

Tabitha carefully applied lightning to the block of ice, hoping that she wouldn’t accidentally shock The Batman! When he saw that he was free, he tried to leave but was stunned as she immediately grabbed his wrist. He glared at her.

“What do you want?” he hissed. It only made Tabitha smile.

“Seems to me that we make a good team… especially seeing that I’ve definitely saved you on more than one occasion.” she told him. He sighed and snatched away from her grip.

“Thanks… again…”

“Oh, no, no, no… no; you’re not going to go ride off on your little motorcycle, again! I can help you out, you know…”

“I don’t need any sidekicks.”

“Really? You know… had I not shown up, you would’ve been ice cream by now!” she pointed a finger at him. He narrowed his eyes at her and turned to leave. Tabitha sighed and did a Lightning Cloud to face him, smiling at his surprised and irritated look, “See; not only did I prove that I’m stronger than you but I’m faster as well! You keep running away… and I’ll just end up chasing you…” she almost sang. Before he could glare at her yet again, a light was being flashed on the two. Tabitha squinted her eyes and looked in disgust at the flashing red and blue lights on top of the vehicle; the police, she rolled her eyes.

“It’s The Batman! Who’s that with him?” a familiar female voice asked. Tabitha closed her eyes in defeat. No; don’t tell me…

“I don’t know. Freeze, ‘Bats’!” Ethan ordered. Tabitha bit her tongue to keep from cursing out loud. She could think of only one thing to do; she sent two streaks of lightning towards the detectives. She had hoped for two things: one, they wouldn’t be quick enough to fire back at her and two, the lightning would not hit them. Tabitha sighed in relief as she saw that her aim was perfect, hitting their weapons instead of their bodies. She turned and saw that The Batman had catapulted himself up the building.

“Damn…” she huffed and followed him. As the two detectives tried to shake the uncomfortable feeling of being shocked from their hands, Ethan looked on in amusement at the quick streak of lightning that tailed the character.

“Was that… real…?” Yin asked. She looked on the ground where the two had dropped their guns; both had been melted into a pile of metal and rubber mess.

“It sure did feel like it! Who… or what is she?”

“I don’t know. Whatever she is, one thing is clear: she’s helping out The Batman…”

He put on a look of surprise yet again as the white-haired woman landed in front of him on top of the building. He sighed.

“Did you forget the conversation we just had? I have nothing else better to do in the morning; I can chase you all night! Faster than you…” she teased childishly. It was enough for Bruce to roll his eyes dramatically and place his head in his hand. She was right, he reasoned. She was lightning fast; she not only provided a distraction from Ethan and Yin but had caught up to him in no time. He also saw that she would keep her word and follow him effortlessly if he tried to escape again; he doubted that even if he used one of his smoke grenades, she would track him down sooner or later. A problem, a major one, especially if it led her to the Batcave.

He had to admit that she **was** helpful; she had thwarted many of villain away from him. That was something that he had appreciated; the nights were not as stressful and long for him. If he was to make her a sidekick, she would **have** to know the whereabouts of the Batcave… as well as his identity.

“Okay… fine…” he made the decision to give in.

“Okay?” she raised her eyebrow at him, trying not to smile.

“We can form a partnership. You… can be my sidekick…”

“Do I get to find out who you really are?” she tried.

“Do I…?” he retaliated. It was enough to make her laugh heartedly.

“That’s not just a no, but a **hell** no!”

“Hmm… something we agree on. Got a name?”

“Sg…” she stopped herself. Crap; not again, she wanted to moan out. Tabitha, yet again, had to come up with another super heroine name on the whim. She couldn’t use anything that had to do with her first or last name; not that she was well known but there was no telling who The Batman really was. If he was someone on the force, like she felt he was, then he knew who Detective Ethan Bennett was… and who his girlfriend was as well. Nothing was coming to her at the moment.

Tabitha slightly perked up; she couldn’t use her first or her last name… but no one knew her middle name! She giggled when the name formed in her head.

“Nikki. Nikki Strykher… at your service.” she slightly bowed and it produced a half smile from him.

* * *

As if he didn’t have enough on his plate; Ethan and the rest of GCPD had to deal with yet another vigilante on their watch. A woman who could conjure up lightning. Whether she was wearing a suit that produced the lightning abilities for her or she was just another mutant didn’t matter; Chief Rojas was not tolerating two vigilantes in the city.

He thought about the encounter as he made his way towards the Financial District. He guiltily admitted to himself that the lightning girl looked great in her snug, black outfit. He absentmindedly compared her to his Tabitha; they were shaped the same for sure… were they? He blew out a quick breath and laughed at himself; no way, he thought. He would’ve picked up on the fact that his girlfriend was a super heroine; a lightning-toting one at that. Ethan tried to come up with contrasts of the two. The lightning woman had pure white hair for one; Tabitha’s hair was…

He stopped at a traffic light and thought. He had yet to see her hair, not even a strand of it; she always wore that t-shirt head wrap.

“N-no. No! What am I thinking; that’s definitely not Tabitha!” he tried to reassure himself. He decided to call her.

She turned her TV down and smiled at the number displaying on her phone.

“Good evening, detective…” she tried her best to sound sleepy.

“Sweetheart, I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Mmm hmm…” she was glad that she really had to stretch; it made her story more believable, “Long night?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe! I’m in the area. Can I…” he was about to ask but was interrupted by her light laugh.

“Don’t you know you ain’t gotta ask no more? Just stop by, goof!”

He debated on knocking but went with his instinct and simply opened the door. Only the glare from the TV gave light to the living room. He saw her sprawled out on her loveseat, wrapped in a thick blanket. She lazily looked up at him and smiled.

“Man… if you’re naked underneath that blanket, you’re going to make my whole week!” he smiled. She snorted.

“Just like a man to think that…” she showed him that she was fully clothed. He pretended to be disappointed but sat down beside her. She immediately embraced him and he gave her a passionate kiss. Before he knew it, he was studying her hands and fingers, remembering the shock he felt when the lightning woman hit his weapon. She eyed him strangely.

“Everything okay?” she asked, snapping him out of his trance. When he realized that her skin and hands were normal, he tenderly kissed them and let out a sigh.

“Yeah; just a long day. We came across The Batman tonight.”

“Oh! So you got ‘em?” she asked. Ethan slowly shook his head.

“No. He had… a sidekick.”

“You know, you guys are gonna be out of jobs soon…” she mentioned with a slight smile. He had to laugh; he knew that she was trying to make him lighten up about the situation. Many a night, he had to tell himself that he would not stress out in front of her. He knew for a fact that she always worried about him.

It was her turn to examine his hands. She grimaced and bit her lip; even in the dark, she saw it: the slight burn mark on the palm of his hand. She quickly turned her lamp on, just to make sure that she saw what she saw. She lightly traced the mark and looked at him.

“Baby, your hand…” her heart dropped a little. She didn’t want to hurt him; didn’t mean to. However, it was the only thing she could think of to make sure that they escaped. He shrugged and slightly smiled.

“It’s fine. Just a little burn.”

“What happened?”

“The Batman’s sidekick is a woman and… she did that to me.”

“Wait… what?” she looked dead into his eyes; she had to make sure that she sold her act. He laughed a little and gave her a quick kiss, “How?”

“It was… unbelievable. She… produced lightning from her hands.” he slowly remembered. She sat back and looked at him.

“Whoa… really?”

“Yeah. She hit Yin, too. Well, she didn’t actually hit us; I think she was aiming for our weapons. Pretty good shot…” he had to admit. Deep down, Tabitha was proud of the compliment; throughout her Army career, she always qualified as a sharpshooter on the rifle range, “Anyway, that’s where the burn mark came from; me holding my weapon when she hit it.” he shook his head. Had he not been there himself, he wouldn’t have believed it. Ethan had to remind himself that anything was possible in Gotham, especially when there were people like Joker running around.

She gently caressed his wound as he was deep in thought. She felt awful that she had hurt him, even if it wasn’t her fault that he held on to his weapon.

“I think I got some burn ointment somewhere.” she said as she got up.

“Tabby, I’m fine…” he threw his head back and laughed.

“Nope; don’t wanna hear it!” she said from her bathroom. As she rummaged through her medicine cabinet, Tabitha made a promise to herself: she would never throw lightning at him, ever again… no matter what.

* * *

She had to admit that all of her relationships were going great. Bruce and she were almost the best of friends; when he wasn’t trying to impress the media with a fake weekly fling and she wasn’t out with her boyfriend, the two were always seen together: she was surprised that the gossip columns weren’t filled with rumors about the two of them.

Then again, she had to give them credit; they knew that she was just his trusting and loyal head technician as well as Detective Bennett’s very steady girlfriend. Ethan and she were heavily in love; so much so that she seriously thought about asking him to move in with her. She knew that she would have to confess to him who she was and what she was capable of. Tabitha had hoped that it wouldn’t damage their relationship; she knew that he actually didn’t mind having another vigilante roaming around Gotham so her hopes were very high. It was finding the right time to tell him that was killing her.

Even Batman (he had told her to drop the formalities; he was simply known as Batman) was starting to tolerate her more. The two were making easy work of the freaks and other bad guys around town as well as avoiding GCPD as much as possible. Tabitha admitted to herself that had she not been in love with Ethan, she would have tried to put all of her attention on the Dark Knight.

Taking care of Wayne Manor was something she had looked forward to; she found a new room to “explore” almost every week. Being a multibillionaire had its perks; travel was one of them, she quickly learned. Her boss had been around the globe and had the artifacts and souvenirs to prove it. Seeing that geography was her favorite subject, she would always take the time to look at the various items, wondering where they came from and how Bruce had acquired it. Of course, Alfred seemed to always be a step or two behind her, as if watching her. The way he hounded her, she wondered if he either didn’t trust her completely or he was making sure that she didn’t go somewhere that was off limits. She really couldn’t blame him; the manor was filled with priceless items and heirlooms. With time, however, the elderly butler grew to trust her as much as his master did and seemed to delight in telling her about his many adventures around the world.

She had grown accustomed to Bruce’s numerous dinner parties in the manor so it wasn’t anything special as she tried to quickly finish her work before one started. As she placed the cover back on one of the lights in the living room (which her entire apartment was a mere fraction the size of), she saw her friend grab her toolbox; a sign that he made to signify the end of her work. She smirked at him but then her smile widened at who was behind him; Ethan and Yin. While Bruce was dressed in a classic tuxedo, the two detectives were in plain clothes exposing their holsters. Without thinking of that fact, Tabitha quickly made her way over to her boyfriend and gave him a soft kiss. When she saw that he had a look of embarrassment, she stepped away.

“Oooh… you’re on duty…”

“Unfortunately.” he finally smiled.

“The chief of police assigned us for security…” Yin almost mumbled, secretly rolling her eyes towards Bruce. Both Tabitha and Ethan tried to tell her that what the tabloids and gossip magazines reported about him weren’t true. However, Yin had already formulated a biased opinion on the billionaire and couldn’t for the life of her see what his best friend and his head technician saw in him. To her, he would always be the rich, spoiled, arrogant playboy. She drew her attention to the lights in the room and looked at Tabitha, “So… you really do all of this work by yourself?” she mused. Tabitha grabbed her toolbox from Bruce and smiled.

“Never met a wire I couldn’t handle! Can’t trust no one else to do the work that I do; and it takes too long to train ‘em so… I rather just do it myself. Need some upgrades in your home, detective?”

“… I don’t think I could afford your services…” it was a straight and blatant jab at Bruce, actually. Ethan winced at her boldness but Tabitha gave her a blank stare.

“What? You actually thought I’d charge you?! Nah… free for you and anyone else at the station!” she smiled. Yin returned the smile.

“Thanks. I think I’ll pass for the moment… but I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Okay. Guess I’m done here, huh, boss?”

“Stop calling me that!” Bruce laughed, “I wanted you to join the party. Guests won’t be arriving for another couple of hours; I know it’s a little last minute but better late than never, right?”

“I don’t think Tabitha has anything she could wear to something like this…”

“I don’t think Tabitha blah, blah, blah, blah!” she mocked her boyfriend and gave him a slight push, “How about you go patrol the grounds or something?!” she laughed. She slightly blushed at the fact that he was right; she had nothing in her wardrobe that wouldn’t make her feel underdressed for one of his dinners. She would have to go out and quickly buy something.

Ethan gave his girlfriend a quick kiss before the two detectives excused themselves to begin their security detail.

“Well?” Bruce looked at her.

“Okay; I guess. Let me run a quick check and then I’ll leave to get ready.”

“Good. If you can’t find me, just tell Alfred to rearm the security.” he told her and left. Tabitha went upstairs to a room she had done earlier that day to check on the wiring job. When everything was satisfactory, she started to make her trek back. The massive bookshelf in the study intrigued her; she went in to take a quick look at it. Something didn’t feel right about the whole room, now that she was inside of it. For it to be in the manor, it was dull and boring; not as elaborate as the other rooms. As if someone didn’t want to draw any attention to the room, she thought. None of the books on the shelf had any writing on the spines. Curiosity getting the best of her, Tabitha picked up a random book, opened it and saw that it was indeed blank.

“The hell… something’s here…” she half whispered. She put the book back and studied the scene a bit more. On the left side of the shelf was a grandfather clock. Had she not been looking for clues, she would’ve missed it altogether; the pendulum was out of sync with the ticks of the clock. It’s a fake, she gave the clock a curious look. What was he trying to hide here?

She got closer to the clock and noticed that there were two spots that were tanned in the face. It wasn’t by much but as close as she was, it was noticeable. She moved the hands of the clock to shadow the tanned spots: 10:48. No sooner had she done so, the clock gave way, making her gasp. A secret entrance, she realized. She quickly glanced around to make sure that no one was watching and quickly stepped inside. The door closed her in immediately and she was alone in the dark. She was glad that she had her toolbox and fumbled to retrieve her mini flashlight. Looking around, she saw that she was on a staircase that had been built into the wall. It spiraled down into the dark void below her but she didn’t hesitate to follow it. Flashing the light around slightly, she realized that she was in a cave and was immediately puzzled as to why her friend would have a secret entrance to a cave. Maybe it had something to do with the Wayne legacy; maybe more heirlooms were hidden there, she thought. A secret mine; she had a feeling that she would find out the origins of how Bruce **really** got his money!

A couple of feet from the end of the staircase stood a massive steel door. It surprised her as it easily gave way when she tried to pry it open and was reminded of two things: Bruce’s security system was turned off and she had super strength as it was! She traveled down a short corridor and encountered another huge door; this one was made of lead. Just as before, she had no problem opening it… and stood in a paralyzed shock at what laid in front of her. It was definitely an enormous cavern but modernized. In the middle was a computer system like no other she had seen before. Labs and workstations seemed to stretch out as far as the eye could see. As she finally found her legs, she walked around and noticed other areas; a training/gymnasium area, somewhat of a trophy case, an armory, even a harbor. It was there where she became frozen yet again; on the edges of the harbor were vehicles of all kinds… quite a few were noticeably variations of the Batmobile. On a wall next to the harbor were suits encased in glass… Batman’s suits to be exact.

“Holy… shit…” she couldn’t believe her eyes. She tried to reason that maybe, just maybe Bruce was a very avid Batman fan; he would be the only one who had enough money to get any of the patented items. However, that only explained the vehicles, the suits and the weapons. There was only one way to explain the other intricate things she found in the cave, “… Bruce Wayne… is muthafucking Batman!!” 


	11. Not So Little Green Men...

She had to put things just as she found them when she left, even putting the hands of the clock back to where they should be. When she saw Bruce during the dinner party, she could do nothing but study his face. Why had it not dawned on her before; the jawlines were perfectly matched. She wondered did all superheroes have complete opposite demeanors between their “real” self and their “superhero” self. It was a dumb question, she realized; they all had to.

When she tried to think about why he would moonlight as Batman, she figured that it was another dumb question. It had to be for vengeance. He never mentioned if the guy who murdered his parents was ever caught; they could very well still be out there. Regardless of the reason he had to become a vigilante, the one thing that she wanted to know more than anything: why a bat?

She wondered if she would go with the same approach as when she debated on telling Peter she knew that he was Spider-Man. She thought against it; for her to confess meant for her to tell him exactly how she found out; Tabitha figured that he wouldn’t be a happy camper if he found out that the woman he had trusted with upgrading his home had snuck into his secret lair. Another thought crossed her mind; did Ethan know? Was he genuinely clueless as to Batman’s identity? If he had known, it made more sense as to why he was always at ends with himself; she didn’t know what she would’ve done had she been ordered to track down and bring in her best friend. However, if he didn’t know, she decided that it was not her place to tell him.

Having Nikki as a sidekick was great at first for Bruce. However, it had slowly began to take its toll on him. He knew that it would happen sooner or later; it was one of the reasons why he was against having a sidekick in the first place. She had started prolonging fights, ones that could’ve easily ended a little after they had begun. She wouldn’t listen to him when he had to tell her that enough was enough; Bruce didn’t know whether it was on purpose or if she simply lost control of her own body. Regardless, it was annoying and a potential hazard; her favorite to fight was Joker: with the way the two competed with one another (it was as if they were trying to see who could outlast the other), Bruce knew that all it would take was a quick throw of some type of Joker poison and she would be done.

Why couldn’t Nikki be more like Tabitha, he always wondered. The southern belle was a bit brazen but nonetheless polite, caring and willing to listen. She was cool, calm, collected and very talented. He even dared to admit that she was attractive as well; he knew what Ethan saw in her and found himself wondering if he would ever find someone like her.

Although her day job was less strenuous than her night one, Tabitha found that doing both was starting to take its toll on her. She knew what was happening; she had started to lose awareness of minutes passed when she battled, especially when she faced Joker. He taunted her, even laughed at her and she wasn’t having some freak show clown make fun of her. Every night, she would tell herself that she wouldn’t let him push her buttons. Unfortunately, that pep talk went out the window whenever she saw the smirk from his red lips.

She was exhausted as she quickly made her way back home. She was glad that she had stopped quickly across the street; she would have missed Ethan’s car parked in front of her building.

“Shit…” she whispered. A quick Lightning Cloud confirmed that he was in her apartment; fast asleep in the bed. She quickly and quietly maneuvered inside the building, opened the door as softly as she could and changed clothes in the middle of her living room. She was glad that she hadn’t washed clothes; she found a dirty uniform by the couch. She wrapped a t-shirt around her hair, took a deep breath and loudly opened and closed her door. When she heard him shift in the bed, she smiled to herself and made a loud yawning sound. As she made her way to her bedroom, undoing her top, she jumped as his sleepy eyes met hers.

“Hmm… late night, Miss Lyght…”

“Jesus! I swear… if you wasn’t a detective, I would’ve called the police on your ass! Don’t you know that breaking and entering is a misdemeanor…?”

“A felony actually…” he smiled as he watched her take her uniform off, “You’re just now getting off?”

“… Yeah. Goof on my part. Fucked up the wiring and I couldn’t leave until it was fixed. It was a bitch…” she sighed and climbed into the bed, still in her underwear. He immediately pulled her closer to him and gave her a kiss, “H-Hey… you’re naked!” she realized. He shrugged and began to fiddle with her underwear.

“So I am…”

* * *

Enough was enough, he felt. Bruce needed to speak with Nikki about her raging bouts. They had started appearing more and more often, even if she wasn’t fighting Joker. He knew that it was something that he wouldn’t be able to handle alone and had mentioned it to his fellow Justice League founding members. There was a plan formulated however, they all agreed that it wouldn’t be forced on her. The first step would be for him to simply hint that her bouts with small blackouts were causing slight problems. He made plans to mention it before one of their nightly treks and was glad that he found her by Amusement Mile. When she turned and smiled at him, he uneasily found that it warmed him. He really liked her smile, even her cocky smirks. He had a small crush on her however the facts that she was his partner and that she had a major attitude problem stopped him from pursuing her. If only she was more like Tabitha, he found himself thinking.

“About time…” even her sultry voice would give him tingles every now and again; he had to find out who this woman was at least. Maybe he wouldn’t need the League’s help in adjusting her attitude problem then.

“Before we leave, there’s something we need to talk about…” he looked dead at her. Tabitha knew that it was something important; he usually had a nonchalant reply whenever she was arrogant with him. Maybe he’s going to finally confess, she realized. Her heart pounded; it had been a couple of months since she found out that Batman was Bruce and was dying for him to admit it.

“All ears.” she felt that whatever he was going to say required for her to take a seat.

“You have a problem we need to settle.” his words made her blink at him.

“A… problem…?” this wasn’t what she was prepared to hear.

“Your rage. We shouldn’t have to fight these guys for as long as we’ve been doing. You need to cool your temper a bit.” his raspy voice wasted no time in explaining. She looked away for a moment but then glared at him.

“Wait… so, you’re gonna sit here and try to tell me how to act, now?” a bit of her accent came out. He was about to continue but caught on to the accent; so she doesn’t have a sultry voice, after all.

“I think I’m in a rightful position to do so. It shouldn’t take all night to take someone down; all you have to do is zap them and be done.”

“… ‘Zap’ them? You **really** think it’s that easy for me, huh? Do you even know what I have to do to even **control** this shit?! I guess not; seeing that you have a utility belt that gives you all the fucking gadgets you need! No damn control there; it’s fucking simple!” she argued. He was about to respond until the two were ambushed by The Penguin and his two oriental sidekicks, the Kabuki Twins. While he tried to fight back, his mind definitely wasn’t clear. Nikki’s real voice had come out when she had gotten upset, he knew it for a fact. It was… southern. Was Nikki Strykher really Tabitha?

She stared down one of the killer geisha dolls, the void in her eyes immediately started.

“It ain’t nice to interrupt people talking!” she said and did a Lightning Cloud towards it. It flashed its menacing claw fingers in retaliation and swiped at her as she came in close proximity. Landing across her chest, Tabitha winced; while her shirt was indestructible it did nothing to cushion the feel of a sharp blade running across her body. It angered her more, blurring her vision. As it tried for another attack, Tabitha foolishly grabbed it by the wrist, not even feeling the slight slice made on her arm, and flung the doll across the river with all of her might. As she started to lose control over her mind, her last rational thought was that she was pretty sure the thing couldn’t fly… or probably even swim.

His annoying nasal cackle drew Tabitha’s attention towards him; The Penguin was definitely enjoying just standing back and watching as the other Kabuki Twin tried to subdue Bruce. He had fought them before and narrowly escaped their wrath, locking them in a large birdcage that The Penguin had used to keep Alfred prisoner. Bruce had no idea how this was going to work out; he really needed some help.

The Penguin looked, seeing that he was being tracked down by the menacing white-haired woman. He had heard about her through the other villains; Joker especially had this love-hate relationship with her (he found it weird that someone besides Batman would give Joker chills). When he saw that he was missing an assassin, he slightly gulped and held out his umbrella towards her. A quick squeeze on the handle and a bullet flew at her. She moved her head slightly, the bullet grazing her cheek through the mask. The act only made her lose even more connection with reality as she threw a streak of lightning towards him, knocking the umbrella from his hand. The only thing he could think of doing was retreating towards the amusement park.

Tabitha gave him a sadistic smirk and did a Lightning Cloud, landing in front of the short man.

“I… fucking… **hate** birds, you know that?!” she growled at him. She grabbed him by his coat and flung him towards the roller coaster, making a teeth-chattering “clang” noise as he bent one of the steel beams. The Penguin was shaken up but it didn’t matter to her anymore; she did another Lightning Cloud and was in his face before he could regain regular vision. She threw him towards another ride, immediately destroying it.

“Tabitha!” Bruce made the decision. He had taken care of the deadly assassin, tying it to a pole. After hearing her speak the last time, there was no doubt in his mind: Tabitha Lyght was Nikki Strykher. He went after her, thinking of everything he could to try to stop her. This was what he was afraid of; she had lost complete control and was intent on beating up The Penguin to death. He was clearly defeated, barely able to speak, begging for mercy but she had fallen deaf and continued to destroy the park with his round body.

He was glad that he was finally close enough to the two. Bruce debated on which he would use the net on and decided on The Penguin; maybe if she saw that he was contained, she would stop his brutal assault on him. It saddened and shocked him however that no sooner had the net covered the villain’s body, Tabitha was charging up, getting ready to hit him with all of her power. Bruce immediately threw a Batarang towards her, hitting her square on her wrist. She angrily looked in the direction of the hit and glared at him. At least she stopped charging up, he thought.

She stopped glaring long enough to actually realize who had hit her; it was enough to make her calm down a bit and regain some type of vision. The dark silhouette became clearer; it was Bruce. He picked up the Batarang and she realized that was what hit her. She looked down in front of her and saw The Penguin subdued in the net, bloodied, beaten and barely breathing. It made her come back to reality fully and she looked back at Bruce. She had no idea how to react; whether she should be ashamed or upset that yet again, she submitted to the rage.

Pain had finally set in as she followed an angry Bruce out of the park. The occasional breeze had stung something on her left cheek even through the mask and part of her shirt stuck to her chest; that area felt sticky and uncomfortable, enough for her to grimace every time she tried to suck in air. Even an area on her left arm throbbed. The two walked in silence for at least two miles before he quickly turned towards her.

“Do you realize how much damage you just caused back there? That’s not how I do things! It’s bad enough that I have the police trying to…” although it was raspy, his tone reminded her too much of her father; the disappointment in his voice whenever her and her brothers got in trouble was always enough to bring her to tears, wishing for a belt to her backside rather than one of…“those” talks. The feeling was almost mutual; she had disappointed her good friend.

“Bruce… I’m so sorry…” she barely choked out. Open mouth, insert foot, she quickly thought as she registered the quick shocked look on his face. Under the normal eye, he had collected himself immediately but she was staring at him, wanting to get back into his good graces. It also helped that she actually knew who he was but now that she blurted it out, she probably did more harm than good.

He pondered deeply how she had found out. Had she secretly followed him one night, finding one of the secret entrances to the Batcave? When that thought crossed his mind, he put his head in his hand and sighed. The dinner party, he remembered. She was acting strangely distant throughout the entire thing. Before, he had just wrapped it up as her being uncomfortable around the other people; he knew that she always had a sense of not belonging in that type of environment. He would have never guessed until that moment that she had found out who Batman really was.

He finally looked at her and sighed; even through the mask, he could tell by her misty, cloudy eyes that she was crying. Quietly, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they made their way back to Wayne Manor.

* * *

She was given an informal tour of the Batcave as the two sat at the Batcomputer. After she had calmed down and he tended to her wounds, the two shared on how they became to be. His story was shorter than hers and he simply stared at her when she had finished.

“Does Ethan know?” it actually worried him. If he had known who she was then it was a no-brainer that he knew who Batman was.

“No.” she sighed to his slight relief, “I ain’t found the heart to tell him. I don’t know how he’d take it, really. I don’t want him hating me…”

“He wouldn’t hate you.” he slightly smiled. He knew his good friend; both of them. While Ethan would be slightly upset that she didn’t tell him sooner, he would see that she was out to protect the city. If anything, he would have to fight to keep his mouth shut, trying not to brag that he was dating Batman’s sidekick, Bruce smiled wider at that thought, “You know after what happened tonight… we definitely need to talk…”

“I know…” she sighed. He turned towards the Batcomputer and prepared the teleportation pad.

“Have you ever heard of the Justice League?” he knew it was a dumb question; everyone had heard of them. Her slight shrug made him give her an amused look.

“I remember Ethan talking about ‘em vaguely.”

“What do you mean, vaguely?”

“I try not to follow things like that…” it was enough to make him laugh and widen his eyes. She narrowed her eyes at him, “He said that you were a part of ‘em… and that some guy named Superman was the leader…” she tried to hide a smile. She wasn’t lying; Ethan **did** tell her that. After finding out who Batman was, she knew that it would rub him the wrong way.

“Right…” his laughter immediately stopped. He didn’t dislike Superman or any of the others; he was just tired of being overshadowed by the ones who had superpowers. He glared at her when she snorted, “Superman… and myself…” he wanted to deter the twinkle in her eye; she was on the verge of laughter, “along with five others founded the Justice League. I told them about you and…”

“You told them about me…?”

“Yes. They’re willing to help you out.” he finished. She folded her arms and looked the other way.

“Just what I needed… therapy…” she huffed.

“It’s really for your own good, Tabitha. You’re a great super heroine; you really are. Your heart is in the right place. I’m just worried about your mind. Until you get control over that rage, nights like this will continue to happen.” he thought sadly. Before he could say anything else, three figures had formed on the teleportation pad, making Tabitha jump away from the port.

When they came into view, she could do nothing but awe at their presence. The man in the front was Superman: the red S on his chest was a dead giveaway; it had a red border with a yellow fill. His outfit was blue with long sleeves highlighted with red boots, red trunks with a gold band and a red flowing cape; all accentuated his bulging muscles. His jet black hair was cut short and curly; she thought that the small curl that laid on his forehead was slightly kiddy and cute. He was a few inches taller than her, a mere inch taller than Bruce, but his wide shoulders made it seem as if he towered over her. He didn’t give her an intimidating look; his blue eyes just plainly looked at her.

The next character she noticed was a woman, who flanked Superman’s left side. She noticed that the woman and she shared the same build, being lean and tone. She looked just as tall as the men however Tabitha saw that she was wearing red with gold stripes high heeled boots; she could’ve been the same height as herself. A golden tiara with a red star did nothing to hold back her black wavy locks. She seemed to smirk at Tabitha, her own blue eyes sparkling as she did (Tabitha wondered did **all** superheroes have the same trait or were they somehow related with their black hair and blue eyes…). Her attire was very seductive; she wore a red corset with two golden bands that seemed to have curved around the top of her breasts (looking closely, it seemed that they formed two curvy Ws). At her waist was a thick gold belt where she kept a glowing golden rope coiled up to the side of her. Her blue and white star trunks highlighted the muscles in her thighs and legs. Tabitha concluded that she was some sort of royalty.

Then her attention slightly stayed on the last member in the trio. He was Martian, she knew that for certain by the green skin and the common beetle brow that they were always depicted with. However, he was nowhere near what she had expected if she ever came across a Martian. He towered over everyone in the room; he was easily over 6’5, she figured. The only thing that was non-human about him was the protruding brow and the green skin; his other physical qualities were human. His blue cape was secured around his neck by a loose gold rope. Red straps crossed each other near his incredible abs, forming a belt with a gold, round buckle above his blue trunks and his feet were covered by blue boots; his whole attire did nothing to hide how muscular he was. Finally, she almost smiled, no black haired, blue eyed superhero; he was bald and his blood red eyes stayed on her. It made her blush when she admitted to herself that he was impressive!

She took her attention away from the three and glared at Bruce.

“You know, a warning would’ve been nice: ‘Tabitha, you may need to back up from that spot’…” she did her best to imitate him. It was enough to get a slight snort out of the woman, a smirk from Superman, an eye roll from Bruce and a light chuckle from the Martian.

“This is Superman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter… don’t let the name fool you.” he quickly added when her pupils widened and she stopped smiling at the mention of his name. She calmed down enough to shake their hands, “Martian Manhunter is going to help you with your problem.”

“She would be more comfortable if we thought of it as treatment.” his deep voice actually sent chills throughout her body; she wasn’t expecting for him to have a voice like that, let alone speak! It made her blush even more as he looked back at her.

“Uh… it won’t… hurt… will it…?” the only thing that ran amok in her mind was the stereotypical probing that all the movies claimed aliens did to humans. She wanted to hot tail it out of there!

“Yes, it will… a lot…” Bruce couldn’t help himself. Everyone’s laughter calmed her down a little; she then blushed even more as she realized that she just may had insulted the Martian with her silly question.

“I assure you it will not hurt.” Martian Manhunter slightly smiled at her. She nodded.

“So, we’re doing it here; right now?” she wondered. Whatever the Martian was going to do to her, she was pretty sure that Bruce had the equipment to do it with.

The thought made Bruce slightly smile; he couldn’t help it. His main priority was to get his good friend some help, especially if she insisted on fighting crime. However, the thought of where she would be going and for how long would mean that he would no longer have a sidekick… something that he had preferred in the first place.

“We think that it’s best for you to go to Watchtower and go through your treatments there.” he said to her.

“… Watchtower…?” the same wide-eyed look that Bruce had given her earlier was being shared by Superman and Wonder Woman.

“She’s never heard of us…?” Wonder Woman directed her question towards Bruce. He laughed and shook his head.

“She doesn’t bother with ‘minor’ details…”

“H-Hey; never said they were minor!” she glared at Bruce yet again, “Why are you giving me shit in front of them?!” she immediately covered her mouth after the words escaped. Wonder Woman raised her eyebrows at the white-haired woman and laughed.

“I like her, already…”

“Watchtower is our base. The majority of the Justice League call it home.” Superman explained. Tabitha nodded.

“So, I’m leaving. What about… Ethan…?” she realized. Yet again, she blushed; for some reason, it made her flustered to admit that she had a boyfriend in front of the Martian.

It was something that Bruce had overlooked. It either meant that Tabitha would have to swallow her pride and let him know about the real her or lie. When he gave her a look, she understood what needed to be done. She couldn’t tell him right then and there; it was still too soon for her. She had to get up the nerve and lie to the man.

* * *

When he walked into the apartment, he immediately knew that something was wrong. She had a couple of bags packed and was sitting on the couch with a worried look. This isn’t good, he thought to himself. He sat down beside her regardless and waited for her to speak. She only looked at him, with a slight fear in her eyes. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

“I don’t like this. You’re packed… and not speaking to me…” he tried not to think about the bad possibilities of the situation. When she still didn’t respond, he leaned in for a tender kiss and looked her in the eyes, “Babe, what’s wrong? What’s all this?”

“I… I have to leave for a while.” she wished that she could’ve just left it at that. She wished that she didn’t have the two horrible choices of either telling him the truth or lying to him. She finally decided on the cowardly way out, “My… mom had a slight accident…”

“Oh, no…” his heart dropped for his girlfriend. He grabbed her hands and caressed them but she quickly shook her head.

“She’s fine. She broke her leg.”

“… Oh. Wait; not that that’s an ‘oh’ moment! But… I’m sorry; I’m just relieved that you’re not breaking up with me!”

“What?! Why would I…” she had to laugh at how serious she made everything, “I’m sorry. I just… I felt bad about leaving. I don’t wanna…”

“Why are you? Don’t you have brothers…”

“In college, can’t pry away from their own busy schedules and still in school needing help.”

“Your dad…”

“Couldn’t boil hot dogs…” she didn’t lie. The man could do taxes in his sleep however the task of fixing simple meals was beyond him; she was suddenly reminded of the time the kids ate nothing but pizza and takeout for a week while their mother was out of town; they all had learned how to cook quickly, “So, I gotta go and help him take care of the house. I’ll be back. A month, maybe? Or until daddy drives me bat shit…” she laughed at her choice of words. Ethan laughed along with her and immediately cupped her face. This kiss seemed to have a deeper meaning to it than their usual ones and it made her cheeks ache from being flustered. He looked deeply into her eyes.

“Tabitha… I love you…” he half whispered. She knew that she turned a shade of red and had a complete loss for words.

“E-Ethan…” she wanted to say them back; she would really mean it. She couldn’t remember the exact moment that it happened but she knew deep in her heart that she loved him. She wanted nothing more than to be with him.

“Please… come back to me…” he couldn’t explain it; he had a slight underlying feeling that she wouldn’t come back. He knew that it was somewhat silly; from the looks of her bags, she only packed enough for a few weeks as it was. He just had the need to make his feelings known.

“I will. I promise. Ethan…….. move in here.” the idea made him smile widely.

“Are you sure? Is that what you really want?”

“… I wanna come home to you… here. Please?”

“Whatever you want, babe. Whatever you want…”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

In the same manner that the three Justice League members appeared in the Batcave, they were all transported onboard Watchtower, Tabitha in tow. Two things that she was dissatisfied with; one: no one told her how being teleported from one spot to another would make her absolutely nauseated; she had no idea how she was able to hold in the contents of her stomach as they materialized on the teleport pads (maybe part of it was that she really didn’t think that throwing up all over the Martian’s shoes would’ve impressed him…)! The other thing that made her purse her lips was the actual location of Watchtower… in space!

“Sooo sick of surprises…” she mumbled once her stomach felt like it was back in its usual spot. It made the Martian lightly chuckle and look at her.

“You will get used to it. Welcome to Watchtower.” he announced and let her look around a bit. They were in the control room and where she thought Bruce’s Batcave was impressive, this room alone took the cake! She became slightly lightheaded as she tried to keep up with everything that was going on, along with everyone that roamed around. She was surprised to see regular people and assumed that they were mere civilian workers; they had on blue uniforms. Everyone else that walked through were definitely superheroes and she was surprised to see that they came in all different shapes, sizes, gender and even species. Her eyes wondered all over the room; from the massive control center with its large monitors to the teleportation pads that they had recently stepped away from. Her eyes finally landed on Martian Manhunter and she felt her cheeks flush as he slightly smiled at her; why did he have that effect on her?

“This is… incredible, Mr. Manhunter…”

“Please; call me J’onn J’onzz.” he liked her politeness. She gave him a look.

“… J’onn…?”

“J’onzz.” he repeated. She stifled a laugh.

“Okay… Mr. J’onzz….”

“Just… J’onn, if you don’t mind.” he corrected her. She gave him a small smile and a nod, “This way, Tabitha.” J’onn guided her through the control room. Leaving the room, they reached a long hallway; one side mostly wall with an occasional opening for a room of some sort, the other side a large window. No one else paid it any mind; she knew that they were used to being in space. She, however, couldn’t help but to stop and gaze every few steps.

“This… puts you closer to home?” she asked before she thought about it. J’onn was ahead of her and she hoped that he knew the question was directed towards him. When he flinched slightly, she bit her lip; she offended him yet again, she felt, “Uh… never mind; sorry…” she apologized and decided to just walk behind him, not saying a word.

The nearly ten minute walk was eerily silent and she was relieved that they had stopped in another corridor; this one had numerous doors on both sides. Housing, she figured. To try to pass the time getting there, Tabitha thought about how it must have been for J’onn aboard Watchtower. From what she had seen, it seemed that he was the only Martian there. Must be pretty lonely, species-wise, she sadly thought.

J’onn picked a door, pressed in a code on the electronic keypad and waited until it beeped a green to give her a card.

“This will be your temporary room while you’re here.” he calmly announced. The door slid open and she took a quick mental tour of the room. It was standard; a full bed, a nightstand, a dresser with a mirror and a bathroom, “Keep that card in a safe place; the code is the key to get in your room. We’ll start the first phase of your treatment in an hour. Do you remember how to get back to the control room?” he asked. She slightly nodded; if she got lost, she figured that she could just ask around. J’onn gave her another warm smile and she looked away. She knew what the problem was; he was really handsome for an alien. His physique wasn’t bad, either; it was way nicer than anyone else’s she’d seen… ever, “Yes… being the only Martian in the world does get a bit lonely… but I’ve learned to manage and make friends.” he suddenly changed the subject. Tabitha blinked a few times at him.

“W-wait… how did you…” she stumbled. His smile widened but he turned away; if she hadn’t known better, she would say that it was **his** turn to blush!

“And, thank you for the compliment although I’m a Martian… not an alien.” he finished and left, leaving her totally and utterly flustered.

“Oh, dear Jesus; he fucking reads minds…”

She was glad that she remembered how to get back to the control room; from there she was led to a large conference room by J’onn. There was a large oval table with seven chairs surrounding it. All the seats were taken except for three. In the other seats were Superman, Wonder Woman and two men. The first was in all red; the one thing that made Tabitha smile was the yellow lightning bolt in the middle of his chest. His mask, like most of the superheroes she had seen roaming around, covered his face down to his nose, exposing his jawline; it formed around his head and what seemed like lightning bolts stuck out from the sides. A possible competitor, she thought happily; she couldn’t say that she was on good terms with others who had her ability. He had a wide smile on his face, his green eyes showing a slight excitement as he looked at her.

The other man donned a black suit highlighted by green that stretched across his shoulders. A green circular symbol was placed in the middle of his chest surrounded by a white circle. She had no idea what the symbol meant but she was already excited to be in his presence; of all the superheroes that she’s met and seen, he was the only one of color. He was also one of the few that didn’t wear any sort of mask; his face was rigid and his green eyes gave her an uninterested stare. Definitely military, she figured; it immediately made her want to stand at attention in his presence.

“I wanted you to meet the rest of the founding members, Tabitha. This is Green Lantern and The Flash.” J’onn introduced. **That’s** what that symbol is, she wanted to smack herself on the forehead. She simply nodded at the two, “Bruce has talked about you for quite some time now.”

“Only good things, I hope…” she blurted out. J’onn gave her a smile.

“You’re feeling a bit uncomfortable being here. However, you being here tells us that you are willing to be helped. We want to make things better for you. If you complete your treatment satisfactory… you will have the option of joining the Justice League.” J’onn announced. Her eyes widened and then she looked at everyone else for approval. Even Green Lantern was all smiles.

“R-really…?”

“Bruce mentioned that you’re very talented and skilled. You have a true willingness to help the ones who need help. Seeing that, we have no problem accepting you.”

“You have to get through your treatment first…” Wonder Woman winked. Tabitha smiled. She had a feeling that the small group really wanted her to pass her treatment.

“I gotta question before we begin.” she looked at J’onn, “How long you’ve been reading my mind?”

“Since meeting you.” he admitted.

“Oh, boy…” she mumbled.

* * *

The treatments had quite a few phases, she found out. While the Martian told her that they would consist for about an hour a day, the sessions could run longer. She would stay on Watchtower for about a month while J’onn tried to figure out the root of her problem. The treatments consisted of everything from her learning meditation techniques to just talking about things (seeing that J’onn read minds, she tried not to think about the really bad things and left those parts out). He even took samples from her, determined to study more about the mutant DNA strand.

Bruce walked into one of the numerous labs aboard Watchtower, finding J’onn looking through an electron microscope.

“How is she?” he didn’t mean to interrupt. However, the Martian had called him to the lab; Bruce figured that he had found something. He knew about the mutant strand running around inside of her, trying to take over her initial DNA. He almost hated that he let the Justice League take her; he wanted to take a look at the extraordinary strand, himself.

“In a manner of speaking, she’s fine. Perfectly healthy. She told me about the extra DNA strand that she’s carrying; the one trying to fuse with her actual DNA. Take a look.” he moved so that Bruce could take a look. Once he did, he popped up and looked back at the Martian.

“… It’s not trying, anymore… it’s already fused.” he had to shake his head. He knew that she wanted to try to become normal again. Now that the mutant DNA was permanent, he knew that there were very slim chances of that happening, “Is that the reason for her rage?”

“It’s very possible. I would like to speak with the doctor who first found out about that strand.”

“I’ll set up a visit.”

* * *

“Oh, shit… sorry!” Jamila quickly apologized as she looked at photo of the strand. She put it down and looked at the two Justice League members. She had been caught off guard when she came home and her husband told her that a Bruce Wayne and his assistant were there to talk to her. She had known about Bruce Wayne; that was Tabitha’s boss and close friend in Gotham as well as Batman (Tabitha figured that she could tell her best friend any and everything without any repercussions). When she led the two into the basement that she changed into a computer/study room, she jumped when the “assistant” transformed into a Martian, “Does she know?” she asked, grabbing the results of the tests that herself and Wyatt ran. She put the pictures side-by-side; a vast difference between the two.

“No.” J’onn shook his head. Jamila frowned up, running her hands through a few strands of dreads.

“What the hell…” she thought about what Wyatt had said; she had at least two years. She thought about how long ago that was and had to sadly admit that the time lapse was almost right.

Their attention went to the opening of the door up the stairs. Jamila was amazed at how quickly J’onn shifted back to the assistant. It was a good thing; her husband made his way down the stairs carrying a manila envelope.

“This just came. Hope I’m not interrupting anything…”

“No…” the professor sighed, grabbing the envelope, “Just found out that Tabs can’t be normal; that DNA already fused…”

“What?! No…” her husband shook his head. Jamila slowly nodded but noticed the address on the envelope.

“Huh; talk about perfect timing…” she immediately opened the envelope, “These are the results back in New York. Tabs was supposed to be cured there but the geneticist said that the formula didn’t take. She said that her strand was far more advanced than the kids she cured; long story…” she realized that none of the men knew the whole story, “Anyway; when she told me, I asked her to give me a photo of the sample she took.” she took the papers out of the envelope. When she got a good look at them, it was enough to make her slump down on the couch, “No…”

“What is it?” J’onn asked, going over to her. Jamila showed him the photo.

“It’s the same. It was already fused back then. That was… almost a year ago. But, what made it…” as soon as she wondered, it hit her. Jamila held back her tears for her best friend, “She wasn’t supposed to use her powers. It sped up the takeover…”

“Is there any way the new strand could have an effect on her mood? As far as anger?” Bruce asked. She thought for a moment but then shrugged.

“It could be possible. Besides the powers, it’s a pretty good chance that the strand could alter something else in her. Why? She’s been angry lately?”

“It’s become noticeable that she has a problem with rage. But… only when she fights…” Bruce slowly looked at J’onn. Both he and the professor caught on.

“… I remember when she was fighting her best friend. She… blacked out; I could tell.” She remembered. The two Justice League members slightly nodded.

“I’m helping her trying to overcome her rage. Thank you for your help, Dr. Lindsey.” J’onn shook her hand.

“Anything for Tabs. Could you do me a favor? Don’t tell her that she’s stuck; she’ll be really heartbroken if you told her right now. Do what you need to do to her first… and then tell her.” 


	12. Redemption

He was glad that they went to talk to Dr. Lindsey; it gave him a new idea as what to put Tabitha through for her therapy. J’onn and Bruce came up with a theory that the new DNA strand had an effect on her adrenaline; it was triggered when she fought and fueled her rage blackout. The Martian needed to test this theory out under a controlled environment; he could not risk her going into a fit of rage out in the open.

Superman and he were in the room that housed the simulation program; many members used it for training, honing their skills. J’onn and Bruce were responsible for creating the program, making sure that a member could select any possible program to their liking. They could adjust the program by strength level (ranging from 0 to 20; only he and Superman were able to withstand the program at level 20), environment and time.

J’onn had plotted out a simple ten minute program for Tabitha as Superman looked on.

“You don’t think it’s too early for her?” he asked.

“I believe she can handle her own, according to Bruce. Besides, this is the only way to safely test out our theories. She needs a villain to fight.” he told him. J’onn sighed a little as Superman continued to look at him, “I will put it on a moderate level…” he changed the strength level from 12 to 6. He looked at the monitor of Tabitha in the adjoined room. Without the program running, it looked like a room of various wires, “Tabitha, we’re going to test your abilities.” he announced to her. She looked around the room a bit before nodding.

“Okay…”

“Don’t hold anything back.” J’onn ordered and began the program. She slightly jumped as the room immediately transformed into the rugged streets of Gotham. When she turned around, she was met by a swift kick from Joker. Back in the control room, Superman and J’onn watched as she easily threw the mad man around. The program also monitored the person’s vitals; J’onn saw that she was nowhere near going through one of her rages and secretly increased the difficulty up to 12. No sooner had he did, the two noticed that her demeanor had changed. The more Joker taunted her, the more her mind started to leave her.

Superman quickly turned his attention back to the Martian.

“J’onn…”

“Keeping it on level six is really pointless; it’s not even a workout for Bruce…” he said, matter-of-factly; not that he thought that Bruce was weak: he knew that the caped crusader was one of three members without any mutant abilities.

“Something about Joker that she doesn’t like… besides the annoying taunting?”

“Bruce said that he’s actually her ‘favorite’. The taunting may be a trigger as well… let’s try a different villain…” J’onn decided. A few quick strokes on the keyboard made Joker run away from Tabitha and another villain appeared in front of her. She was taken aback at first at what towered in front of her; a massive yellow beast with red eyes wearing a light purple suit. Superman raised an eyebrow at J’onn.

“Of all the villains, you pick Mongul?” he wondered. The Martian ignored the look the Kryptonian was giving him and focused on the new battle. When Mongul approached her, she naturally defended herself. She saw that he would not back down and she immediately went on the attack. The two Justice League members watched in shocked silence as the life in her eyes faded and she fought him with all of her might. What surprised both of them was that she was having no problems with Mongul; he was far too heavy for her to pick up and throw so she combined her lightning with every punch and kick, knocking him into several buildings.

Her heart rate monitor beeping quickly made the two decide that they had seen enough. J’onn shut down the program instead of waiting out the two minutes for it to end itself. Superman went into the other room to help the woman who had fallen down on her knees, breathing hard. When she felt someone touch her, she let her lightning loose and turned to attack whoever was trying to sneak up on her. Seeing who was trying to help her made her eyes slowly come back to focus.

“Su… Superman…?” she finally looked around; the room was back to when she first went inside. She slowly realized what happened and shakily ran her hands through her damp hair, “It… it happened again… didn’t it?” her eyes filled with tears. Superman returned to her side.

“It’s okay…” was the only thing he could think of telling her.

After the display she had given in the simulation room, J’onn refrained from putting her through that again although it did prove that the adrenaline fueled the rage inside of her. He had to figure out how to approach her therapy using that information. The first option was to not let her fight. He didn’t approve of that; he really wanted her a part of the Justice League (raged or not, she had handled the program easily on level 12; she had a lot of potential): unfortunately, fighting was a part of that.

Another option was for him to use one of his abilities and erase a part of her mind; if she didn’t have knowledge of her powers, she wouldn’t rage. J’onn immediately saw the major flaw in that idea: while he could erase any memory that he wanted, he couldn’t take away the powers. She would still have her lightning ability and they would come out whenever she got emotional. For the moment, he would stick with what they were doing before.

He wanted to know more about when she stayed in New York; whenever they talked, she wouldn’t mention any more other than what she already told him. He liked the fact that she had become smart enough to not think about it; she knew very well that he could go through her mind. However, he knew who would be able to give him the information that he needed.

Dr. Lindsey reconfirmed everything that Tabitha had told J’onn during their sessions as well as (as he had figured) things that she had left out. While Tabitha was in Gotham, she used Jamila as her contact with Peter; what she didn’t know was that the two talked a lot about her… and Peter told her everything that happened the last time she had seen Alpha.

“I hope this helps out in her treatment.”

“It will; thank you, Dr. Lindsey. Would you like to speak with her before leaving?”

“Yes.” she smiled and nodded. J’onn led her out the room and to Tabitha’s. When she heard the knock on the door, Tabitha looked at the time and shrugged; she was finished with her treatment for the day and wondered who it would be. When she let the door slide open, her eyes widened and she gave Jamila a huge hug.

“Doc!”

“Tabs…” the professor smiled.

“I’ll leave you two to talk. Tabitha will let me know when you’re ready to leave, Dr. Lindsey.” J’onn said and left. She pulled her best friend in the room.

“Oh, my God; what are you doing here? Wait… **how** did you get here?!”

“J’onn invited me. Oh… my God; he is fucking sexy as…” she was about to comment but Tabitha immediately covered her mouth.

“Ssh!!”

“W-what; he can **hear** me?!”

“Pretty sure of it but he can most definitely read minds!”

“Oh, fuck my life; that was all I was thinking about! That damn chest… and those abs… I wonder how he hides all that…”

“Doc!!”

“Don’t tell me you ain’t thought it; as tall as he is, he **has** to have a d…”

“AHH!!” Tabitha covered her best friend’s mouth yet again, “What part of ‘he reads minds’ did you not get?!”

“Shit; if he’s been in it ‘bout ten minutes ago, what I was thinking about now was G-rated!”

“Oh, dear Lord!” she sat down on her bed and slightly laughed, “Why are you even having those thoughts?!”

“Well, if he wasn’t half damn naked, I wouldn’t… wait; he’s sexy; yeah, I would!”

“He’s Martian!”

“I don’t discriminate…” the comment made both women laugh. Jamila sat down beside her friend, “Green men can get it, too!”

“Aren’t you married?!?!”

“Oh, I can talk and think and look all I want! As long as I don’t touch…”

“You’re killing me! He could be right outside that door, listening to you and your perverted thoughts!”

“Which would make him the bigger perv if he’s still out there listening!” the professor laughed, “Okay; I’m done! How you been feeling?” she calmed down. Tabitha shrugged.

“Okay, I guess.”

“Think you’re learning how to control your anger?”

“I don’t know. It’s so frustrating… and embarrassing. Bad enough I gotta learn how to control these powers; I gotta control my anger, too?” she looked away. Jamila sighed.

“I know it ain’t easy. That strand doesn’t want it to be easy for you. But… I know you can whip this.”

“How?”

“… By opening up. The next time J’onn talks to you… tell him everything. It might unblock things for you…” she suggested. Tabitha looked down at the ground. It would definitely open up old wounds for sure, she thought. Maybe the doctor was right. Maybe it was what she needed.

* * *

She was nearing the end of her treatment but felt like there was no improvement on her situation. While she hadn’t been put through anything to trigger her rage, she had this feeling that the daily sessions with J’onn, learning how to meditate, even talking with the other founding members was in vain. It saddened her whenever she thought about it; she had learned to like it up there in Watchtower, roaming around without her head wrap, getting to know the other League members. She had to get used to seeing them in their superhero outfits all the time; she learned that since no one knew when a mission would come through, it was the sure safe way of being ready when it happens.

The founding members had actually grown attached to Tabitha; each one really hoped that she completed her rehabilitation successfully: they all looked forward to having her as a team member. For Bruce to praise her, they knew that she was very talented (for him to have even took her in as a sidekick spoke volumes in itself). Only he, J’onn and Superman witnessed her go through one of her blackout phases and all three had to admit that she was nearly unstoppable when she reached that peak. J’onn really wanted to see her use that power and not go through a rage in order to achieve that level.

She was walking with J’onn to a training room. She had been around him for so long that she no longer blushed in his presence; she had gotten used to the Martian and his mannerism. While walking, she suddenly looked at him.

“Yes?”

“Umm… I hate to tell you what to do…”

“I’m always up for suggestions.”

“It may be a good idea **not** to go through doc’s mind whenever you see her!” she advised. He quickly glanced at her but then back ahead.

“… I will have to agree with that…” his response made her stop dead in her tracks. She sighed heavily.

“So… you know…”

“I see why you are good friends with her; she is very loyal to you. However, her thoughts are… very provocative whenever I am around her…” he admitted. If the Martian wasn’t capable of blushing, Tabitha did it for him, “Her last thoughts had something to do with honey… I would rather not go into details…”

“Oh… my… God…” her cheeks ached, “I’m gonna kill her! No; not literally!” she saw that J’onn looked at her. He gave her a smile.

“It’s quite alright. She has done nothing wrong.” the two continued to walk.

“So… how I’m doing?” she wanted to change the subject.

“I don’t know; what do you think?” he looked down at her. She looked straight ahead and shrugged.

“I think… you’ve been wanting to send me back to Gotham since week one!” she admitted but he laughed a little.

“You’re too hard on yourself. I hope this will help loosen you up.” he said as they entered the room. She knew that there would be some sort of training involved in her treatment however she raised an eyebrow as she was face-to-face with Wonder Woman. She folded her arms and smiled at Tabitha.

“Well; I hope you’re ready!” she simply said. She could only blink back at the woman.

“Ready for……”

“Fighting me.”

“W-wait; say what now?! J’onn…” she turned around to face the Martian. He was against the wall.

“This is part of your final phase of your treatment.”

“B-but… I can’t…” she knew that she wouldn’t be able to talk her way out of it through him. She looked back at Wonder Woman, “Wonder Woman…” she tried but the woman shook her head.

“Call me Diana. And… if you’re going to be a part of the Justice League, this is one of the things you’ll have to do on a regular basis, anyway.” she took a fighting stance. However, Tabitha shook her head and looked down at the mat.

“Then, to hell with that; I ain’t hitting a Justice League member!” she proclaimed. In his mind, J’onn was proud of her and already passed her for this part of the treatment. He found it to be true; she would not fight someone innocent. He knew that she would have to get over it because Diana was right; training and sparring with one another was as vital as going on missions.

“Suit yourself.” Diana shrugged. Tabitha thought that was the end of that and turned to face J’onn. When she saw his faint smirk, she immediately turned back around and saw a fist closing in on her face. Thinking quickly, Tabitha grabbed Diana’s wrist and stepped behind her, holding her arm behind her back. She yanked her towards her but then pushed her away, hoping that the show of force would deter her from another attack.

She was wrong. Diana came after her with a kick this time around. She grabbed the red high heeled boot and flipped her onto the mat. One of the triplet’s favorite wrestlers came to mind as she cradled Diana’s back. She grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms towards her, trying to keep her in place.

“Diana, please; I don’t wanna fight you…” she tried. The reply was a swift kick to the back of the head. Tabitha immediately let go of her arms and rolled off, more in shock than in pain. She had to roll out of the way of a heeled boot coming down on her and knew that she wasn’t safe on the ground.

While Tabitha was busy being defensive, Superman, Bruce and Green Lantern had joined the Martian on the wall, watching the sparring match.

“She’s not fighting back…” Bruce noticed. J’onn finally let his smile come out.

“Yes. I know.”

“Does she know that this is what you wanted to see?” Superman asked. J’onn shook his head.

“No. She honestly doesn’t want to fight Diana. I told her to try to provoke her as much as she can. She hasn’t gone into a rage…” he was happy to see. The three saw that Diana was very persistent and Tabitha reluctantly threw a stream of lightning towards her. It wasn’t a potent one; she was still trying to ward the woman off. It was blocked by one of her gauntlets and Tabitha quickly sighed for relief. Diana finally landed a hard punch to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her slightly, and ended the attack with an uppercut to her face. The two blows were enough to put worry onto Bruce’s face; they were hard enough to knock her away. When Tabitha glared at her, the other two men held their breaths. She did a quick Lightning Cloud to be face-to-face with the woman and retaliated with a fierce punch to her face, adding lightning to her fist.

“Wow… that was… quick…” Green Lantern noticed. Bruce nodded.

“She threatened to follow me around all night before I agreed to make her a sidekick.”

“Seems as though she clearly has the advantage…” J’onn noted. Bruce didn’t know if he was making fun of him so he could only slightly glare at the Martian.

“I wonder who would win between her and Wally…” Green Lantern wondered aloud.

Regardless of how fierce the punch was, J’onn saw that Tabitha was actually sympathetic about hitting Diana. She grabbed Tabitha and threw her almost across the room. She landed on her feet and saw Diana charging after her yet again. She narrowed her eyes but took off in the other direction, running away from her. She did a Lightning Cloud off the wall, ricocheting herself to right in front of Diana, and gave her feet a quick sweep. Tabitha put all of her weight on Diana and started to charge up, despite Diana grabbing a hold of her wrists.

“That’s enough.” J’onn ordered. Not that he was worried that she was about to injure Diana; he was quite proud that she hadn’t shown any signs of blacking out. Diana smiled and released her hold on Tabitha. She helped Diana up but gave J’onn a sorrowful look.

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

“For what? That was very good.”

“Very good? But… I didn’t even fight back…” she looked down. He gave her a warm smile and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“That was the point…” he clued her in, “Now, are you ready for the second part of the final phase?”

She took a quick look around the room and took deep breaths before the program started. When it did, she saw that she was in Metropolis, according to what Superman had told her; the sign for The Daily Planet loomed high in the sky as she looked up. Tabitha figured that she would have to go up against Lex Luthor, a known enemy of Superman’s and thought that it would be unfair; as far as she had been told, he possessed no superhuman abilities whatsoever: she would have to take it easy on him. Then again, she reasoned, it was the simulation program; he would probably be injected with something that made him powerful.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a white-haired man appeared in front of her.

“We meet again, Tabby…” he spoke. She knew that it was just a simulation; it just shocked her that whoever was running it would throw Tony into it. She shook her head sadly; she should have never listened to Jamila and opened up fully to J’onn.

She was steadily approaching him until another surprise was thrown into the program; Tony dragged someone into the scene with them: Ethan. Another reason why she had been determined to go through the therapy; she would be back in his arms. She thought long and hard about things while up in Watchtower and made the decision that once everything was done, she would tell him the truth about herself.

“Your new boyfriend, huh? You know it should’ve been me; it **will** be me!” Tony surprised her. She gave him a confused look; what type of program was J’onn running? Before she opened her mouth to question it, Tony charged up and electrocuted Ethan. It seemed to have gone on in slow motion; she watched in fear as his limp body fell to the ground. The waft of charred human skin stung her nostrils.

“ **NOOOOOO!!!** ” she cried, tears immediately running down to her cheeks. Something had snapped inside of her; she no longer thought of this as s simulation program. This hit her too close to her heart and she couldn’t move. What finally grabbed her attention was the laugh. It started as a low chuckle but finally erupted into a sick and sadistic cackle. She switched glances from what used to be her boyfriend to the man who stood above him, smiling at her, taunting her to make a move. Tears still streaking down her cheeks, she glared at him and did a quick Lightning Cloud towards him. She hit him with all of her might, sending him flying into The Daily Planet building. She followed him with another Lightning Cloud and kicked him in the back of the head.

Bruce raised his eyebrows at J’onn.

“That was a bit harsh…” he had to make his feelings known. It was one thing to bring her friend back from the dead so that the two could battle; it was another to make him kill her boyfriend.

“I needed her to forget that this is a program.” he simply replied. Bruce could only shake his head at the Martian; it was almost as if he **wanted** her to go through one of her rages. As she pummeled her former friend throughout the entire city of Metropolis, J’onn decided to up the difficulty to level 12. She wasn’t going through her rage just yet… but she was very near it.

She was surprised that Tony finally got up after a series of hard and brutal hits, actually laughing at her.

“You’ve gotten soft, girl. Maybe I should break both of your hands…” he smiled. She had enough. Her eyes misted over as she screamed at him and charged up. She hit him with a wave of lightning, knocking him back a few feet.

“And, there it is…” Bruce sadly noted. However, J’onn shook his head, checking her vitals through the monitors and going through her mind.

“She’s not raging. She’s simply… upset.” he almost smiled. She was on the edge but he was happy that she wasn’t letting herself go past it.

The white-haired man kept getting up after she hit him, laughing at her. It started to anger her; how could he sit there and laugh at her after all that he had done? He had killed Wyatt, he had threatened Jamila and then he had killed Ethan; it infuriated her that he had the nerve to laugh, not even fight back. As she grabbed Tony by the shirt and charged up to the maximum of her ability, that’s when it dawned on her. He wasn’t fighting back. Not once did he attack her. Her mind cleared and she looked down at him. He was a bloody mess; his clothes were torn, his right eye was swollen and blood seeped out wherever it could. Yet, he still smiled and laughed at her.

“Go ahead; do it, Tabitha. Hit me; kill me again!!” he almost insanely laughed. It was enough to make her stop charging up.

“N-no…” she weakly said. More tears streamed down her cheeks as she gathered him into her arms and hugged him, “No…” was all she could say. She buried her head into his chest and began to sob, finally coming to terms of what she had done.

“That’s enough…” Bruce had seen all that he wanted to see. The Martian had to admit that he had as well and stopped the program. They entered the room and looked at Tabitha dropped to her knees and continued to sob. J’onn approached her, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Tabitha…” he tried. She looked up at him, shaking from crying so hard.

“I… I killed him. I never meant to…”

“It’s okay…” Bruce answered for J’onn. It only made Tabitha shake her head.

“W-who kills their best friend? A-a-and children… oh, God; they were just kids! I can’t… I can’t bring them back…” she continued to cry. It was enough to make J’onn almost regret putting her through that program; the last thing he wanted to do was have her doubt her intentions of being a super heroine.

“Let’s… take a break…”

It took almost two hours for her to calm down. During their sessions, J’onn had never asked how she had felt knowing that she killed her best friend; he figured that it was something that she really didn’t want to confront at the moment. She had felt awful, almost like a part of herself had died as well. Not only because he was her best friend… but because she didn’t remember it. She didn’t remember what her mind was going through when she electrocuted Tony or the teenagers; all she felt was remorse whenever she thought about it. Going through that program brought it all out to the surface… and she had to admit that after breaking down like she had, she felt a lot better.

Bruce went alone to get Tabitha from her room. When she opened the door and the two left, she could barely look at him.

“… I feel like an ass…” she finally admitted. She was supposed to be tough super heroine and they weren’t supposed to show any kind of weakness. He looked at her and sighed.

“It wasn’t your fault.” he told her. He was upset still that J’onn made her go through a program like that.

“Don’t be mad at J’onn; he was just trying to make me forget that it was a program…”

“It was too extreme. He could’ve left a few things out. It was like he was trying to make you black out.”

“… He had to push a few buttons…” she had this urge to defend him. What sense would it had made to make her go through a regular program, she wondered. The Martian **had** to come up with something creative and extreme to make her face her bottled up emotions.

Bruce sighed when he realized that regardless of how he felt about it, what was done was done… and Tabitha didn’t put any fault on J’onn.

“How do you feel?” he decided to change the subject somewhat. She slightly smiled and looked at him.

“Better.” she admitted. They made their way to the control room and joined J’onn and Diana by the transporter pads. She glanced at the golden gauntlets around her forearms and noticed a slight scratch; she at first thought that it was just how the light shined on them. When she moved, Tabitha knew that it was definitely a scratch, probably where she had blocked her lightning attack, “I… can fix that if you want, Diana…” she almost mumbled. She gave the white-haired woman a strange look but then looked at the scratch. She looked back at Tabitha and laughed.

“While it’s just a tiny scratch and I’m not worried about it but these were hand crafted by Hephaestus…”

“… who…?”

“Blacksmith to the gods.”

“Oh.” Tabitha slightly nodded. She continued to stare at the imperfection, “… I can fix it…”

“Are you saying that you’re better than Hephaestus?” she slightly raised her eyebrows. Tabitha shrugged.

“I ain’t saying all that; just saying that I can fix ‘em…”

“You’d be surprised at what all she can do…” Bruce smirked at Diana. She gave her a thoughtful look.

“Are you ready for the final part of your treatment?” J’onn asked. He wanted to ask if she was okay after what he had put her through but seeing that she smiled gave him that answer.

“Cocked, locked and ready to rock!”

The only thing that she was told was that they were going down to Earth and so she should wear her head wrap. She was surprised to see that they were transported to New York, in front of what looked like a massive office building. She tensed up when she noticed the sign on the tan building: Bellevue Hospital Center.

“What’s this…?” she firmly asked. Bruce and Diana shrugged.

“I don’t know. We were only told that we were accompanying you here for the final phase of your treatment.” Bruce said as J’onn shape shifted into a human form. They went inside and spoke to one of the receptionists. She pointed them to an elevator and the four got off on the fourth floor, Tabitha nervously noticed the sign that stated Mental Health. J’onn spoke with another receptionist and she clearly heard him when he told the older woman that they were there to “visit Gary First”. It wasn’t fair, the thought thundered in her head. She was willing to face what she had done to Tony and the White Hairs; she was not ready to face Alpha: not now and probably not ever.

They were escorted to a visiting room by a guard; it was more like a containment room to Tabitha. She was in too much shock to protest this visit; she sat in silence as she saw two guards escort someone inside; Alpha. Gary First, she corrected herself as she could do nothing but glare at the pitiful sight in front of them. His hair was no longer a jet black, his skin no longer shone with a metallic glow. He definitely was not the dominating Alpha that had paralyzed her with his ionization. His salt and pepper hair was almost fully grey and unruly. He had a beard and his once beautifully sculptured features had eroded, making him appear older, much older than what he really was.

The former general slowly looked up as the guards actually confined him to the chair across from the four. At first, his eyes were dull and lifeless. But as they set on Tabitha, a small shine started to appear. Her heart raced as the feelings of betrayal and revenge swept through her all over again. She wanted to react; she wanted to attack him but she stayed in her seat and stared coldly at the man.

“Sergeant…” he started to smile. How could he even smile at her, she angrily thought. It was enough to make her narrow her eyes at him.

“Not in the military no more…” she continued to give him a hard stare. It was enough to make him look back down. She wondered if that was remorse that made him not look at her. she remembered vividly how he taunted and teased her, staring at her with those hazel eyes, mocking the fact that he had her dumped in that alley in Memphis.

Now, he was quiet. He couldn’t even look at her, didn’t dare to open his mouth. It made her fume as she leaned in closer to him; it was her turn to mock and intimidate, “Got nothing to say? Do you even care what you put me through; what you put Tony through? I deserve an apology…” she told him through half-clenched teeth. She didn’t know whether she actually wanted an apology; it wouldn’t bring Tony back or even make her back normal, she sadly realized. It would’ve been the thought that counted but even then, it made her blood boil that she even had to ask for one; it should’ve been the first thing that came out of his mouth when he laid eyes on her.

He was numb, just as he was when he was first brought into the institution a couple of years ago. So, it was fitting that he had nothing to say to her, didn’t want to acknowledge that she was there; maybe if he ignored her long enough, she would leave. He didn’t want to say anything to her; he knew that whatever he had to say would not make any sense to her, wouldn’t bring her closer to understanding why he did what he did.

It angered her more that he wouldn’t say anything; hot tears rolled out of her eyes.

“You… bastard; you fucking bastard! Everything that you fucking put me through and you won’t say shit?! You left me for **dead** … in a fucking alley… three hundred miles away from my gaddamn home!! You didn’t even have the fucking decency to dump me in Chattanooga?!?!” it surprised everyone when she started to yell. He finally looked at her, a hint of tears in his eyes. He had seen something as he tried to look at her; the usual light from her eyes was quickly starting to fade.

“Tabitha…”

“No; don’t you fucking dare!! You don’t give a fuck; you never did!! You’re powerless; what’s stopping me from taking you out right now?!?!” she started to rage and stood up. She didn’t care who saw it; lightning started to form around her clenched hands. The guards were taken aback at first but started to move in. J’onn signaled for them not to move, all the time using his ability to control their minds. She banged her fists into the table, nearly bending it in half and glared at Gary, “I… should fucking kill you right here… right now!!!” she started to charge up. Bruce and Diana prepared to take her down; it was getting out of hand quick. She had felt the rage coming on and had blanked out for a second. Tabitha didn’t care anymore; he had to pay. As soon as she thought it, something else happened. She started to think about the program she had just gone through hours before. She thought about what all she and J’onn had talked about for the month that she had been on Watchtower; there was a reason for her presence there. What was she really to gain if she let her ability fly loose right then and there? Sure, Gary First would be dead… but she would have to face the consequences… and the looks she would receive from not only Bruce but the Martian as well. All of his work would be in vain… and it would be unfair to him. As she started to come out of her rage, she started to take deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. If she killed him, she wouldn’t be able to see Jamila or the triplets, her family... or Ethan again. A few more breaths and she stopped charging up, “No. No. I can’t. I won’t. I won’t stoop to your level. Not no more. I’m done…” although she still glared at him, she calmed down enough to turn to leave. J’onn released his hold on the guards’ minds and they looked as if nothing happened. The three Justice League members had silently sighed out of relief as Bruce guided Tabitha towards the door.

“T-Tabitha…” Gary shook. She stopped dead in her tracks.

“Go to hell…” she didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I have no idea if the 4th floor of Bellevue Hospital is the psychiatric ward. Living in a military town, there were always jokes and comments about sending someone to the 4th floor of the base hospital whenever someone acted crazy and that is where the reference comes from.*


	13. Belonging

Tabitha found herself standing in front of the six founding members, trying her best not to show any emotion. She was told that there were actually seven members however she wasn’t going to question why she never met the phantom member. J’onn stood up from his seat and looked at her.

“Tabitha Lyght; a month ago, you were brought here because of a problem with controlling your anger and rage. In response for going through your treatment successfully…” she almost cringed as the Martian put emphasis on that word, “… You were given a choice to be a part of the Justice League.” he looked at her. She wanted to cry; she knew that she could see the disappointment in his red eyes: she didn’t pass the final part of her treatment.

However, J’onn slowly smiled at the white-haired woman, the others following his lead, “Congratulations, Tabitha.” he announced. She couldn’t help it; she covered her mouth and let out a squeal, causing the others to slightly laugh. The rest of the members stood and gave her a round of applause.

“Seriously?!” for nearly two days, all she could do was worry about how her actions in New York was going to affect their decision. She had goofed, she knew she did; she had exposed her powers in front of the guards, was willing to kill with no remorse. When she returned to Watchtower, no one said a word to her, not even Bruce. She already packed her bags before she was summoned to the conference room.

J’onn had to admit that he was shocked at how close she had come to losing it; he was sure that they would have to intercept her attack. However, he couldn’t have been any prouder when she pulled herself out of the start of her rage, even doing the breathing techniques she was taught. It was a shaky situation but it was enough to convince J’onn J’onzz that Tabitha Lyght was now in full control of her emotions. The next step was to inform her of their findings about her mutant DNA strand. However, after last speaking with Dr. Lindsey, she had assured J’onn that she would tell her.

“Will you accept membership into the Justice League?” Superman asked. She gathered her composure long enough to answer, a huge smile on her face.

“Yes!” she nodded. It was exciting for her. Her take on superheroes had changed drastically in the past two years. She didn’t have anything against them; she just left the overexcitement of them to the younger children. Now that she willingly accepted to be a part of one of the major factions of superheroes out there, she wondered if they would still accept her when she found the antidote to make her normal. Thinking about it, she also wondered if she now could get the help that she needed.

“Give me a moment to log your access code in the system; it’ll give you access to any authorized room on Watchtower. Here is your communicator; you’ll always be able to get in contact with myself and anyone else. As a new member, you have mandatory training to go through. You can stay aboard if you like. If not, just make sure that you’re on time for your training.” J’onn explained, giving her a piece of equipment that looked like a small Bluetooth device.

“Thanks for putting up with me this past month. I do have a request, though.” she smiled but looked dead at The Flash.

“Yes?”

“A race with The Flash…” she announced. He smiled and approached her as the other members showed their interest in her request.

“You can call me Wally, now that you’re a member. Are you sure?”

“I ain’t deaf; I’ve been hearing people wondering who’s faster!” she said but looked at Green Lantern. He gave her a smirk, “One lap around Watchtower?”

“This will be fun! Ready?”

“Always!” the words didn’t come out of her mouth fully before the two disappeared from the room, one leaving a blur of red, the other a streak of white. Twenty seconds later, Tabitha appeared back where they had started, with Wally appearing immediately after her.

“Wow…” Diana blinked.

“She beat him…” Green Lantern mused. Wally looked at Tabitha and smirked.

“You cheated…”

“W-what?! HOW?!”

“Best two out of three?”

“Let’s go!” she agreed and the two took off again. Bruce shook his head.

“We may have to watch out for those two, now…”

* * *

Abrupt knocking made her pop out of her sleep and grumble; maybe it was a bad idea to have stayed on Watchtower, she groggily thought. To make things easier on herself (as well as not go through the nausea every time she teleported), Tabitha had made the decision to stay aboard Watchtower throughout her mandatory training. She told Ethan that she had to stay longer than expected in Tennessee and he understood completely; it hurt her heart that he was let down by the fact.

She stretched and slowly got out of bed; her latest training session with Diana had been grueling: she learned the hard way that she was really holding back the last time they sparred. Before she could even think about going towards the door, more knocking was heard.

“Oh… my, God; keep your shirt on: I’m coming!” she half yelled; for all she knew, it could’ve been J’onn: she didn’t want to seem **too** rude to him! She let the door slide open and rubbed her eyes at the sudden invasion of light, “… Bruce. What’s up?” she yawned; she had refrained from telling him how she really felt about having her nap interrupted. Not saying a word, he walked inside her room and gently grabbed her arm before she headed back to bed.

“… Ethan may be in trouble…” he decided to get straight to the point. She was fully awake, now.

“Wait… what? What happened?”

“A few days ago… he was taken hostage by Joker…”

“ **WHAT?!** ”

“I managed to get to him but… he really messed with his mind when he had him.”

“You’re just now telling me all this?! Bruce…”

“I thought that everything was fine with him… until now. I didn’t want to worry you if everything had ended up fine.”

“That freak kidnapped my boyfriend and you didn’t want to tell me?!” she hunted down a t-shirt to wrap around her hair; she was going to Gotham to see him whether Bruce liked it or not.

“I knew how you were going to react; I couldn’t. You’re going to go see him, aren’t you?” he asked. She stopped and gave him a look.

“You gonna stop me…?”

“I can only ask for you not to… I can’t force you to stay.” he realized, “Yin told me that he’s been locked in his apartment ever since the incident.”

“Wait… his apartment? He’s supposed to be in mine…”

“I know.”

“Yeah; I’m **definitely** gonna go check on him, now…” she didn’t give him time to argue as she walked out the door. He couldn’t tell her the entire story: The Penguin had told Joker who Nikki Strykher really was; he was the only one around to have heard Bruce call her by her real name. To lure her out, Joker took Ethan hostage… and everything was caught on tape. Bruce was worried that it was too soon to expose Tabitha to that type of situation and decided to handle things himself; he knew that he was doing the right thing.

“I’m coming with you.” he sighed as the two made their way to the teleportation pads.

When they made their way into the City Hall District and saw Ethan’s car parked in front of the apartment building, Tabitha sighed; it looked as if it hadn’t moved in days. They went inside and Bruce knocked on his door.

“Ethan? Hey, buddy; you in there?” he tried. He attempted to turn the knob but found the door locked. He knocked yet again until the two heard a small commotion from the other side, “You okay in there?”

“Bruce? I’m just… not feeling too good…” Ethan’s voice was muffled and harsh. They both wondered why he wouldn’t open the door. Tabitha lightly knocked on the door, resting her head on it to see if she would be able to hear more.

“Detective… could you open the door, please?” she tried.

“… T-Tabby…?”

“Yeah. I missed you, babe.”

“… I missed you, too…”

“What happened with you moving in with me?”

“… I… couldn’t stay there… without you…”

“Well… I’m back, now.” she made the decision that she would move back immediately, “Ethan, open the door; I don’t care about catching no cold…” she was partly worried and frustrated that he hadn’t opened the door.

“N-no!”

“… What? Don’t you want to see me…?” she was confused. The last time they had spoken, while he was let down that she would be gone longer, he was all the eager to see her.

“I…. don’t want to… see… anyone. Would you... just leave?!” he actually yelled. She was taken aback at his sudden outburst; not once had he ever raised his voice at her, let alone pushed her away. It was enough to make her eyes misty.

“But, Ethan… I love you…” she managed. She waited for him to respond but when he didn’t, her tears finally fell. Bruce grabbed her shoulders.

“Come on; let’s go. Let’s give him his space…”

* * *

When he suggested that the two of them give the detective some space, Tabitha didn’t know that it would mean waiting on him for weeks. Three to be exact; for three weeks, he wouldn’t take anyone’s calls, not even his own girlfriend’s. When she made the decision to try to visit him at the station, it was there where she found out that Ethan hadn’t been there since his incident with Joker; he had been put on suspension for insubordination. Something was really wrong, she sensed. As frustrated as the police chief had made him, Ethan had never mouthed out at him.

When Tabitha told him what she found out, Bruce could only feign a look of surprise. He had already known what had happened between Ethan and Chief Rojas. Seeing that the hostage situation was caught on tape, Bruce had watched it again to see if he had missed something. Unfortunately, he had. When he made the decision to try to de-fuse the situation himself, he accidentally let a bit of Joker’s putty gun gas leak out; it was a new invention of his that had never been used on humans. He watched in slight disbelief as Ethan coughed when the gas went into his nostrils; he was sure that the detective got a lot of the toxins in his lungs. Seeing that the effects of the gas were unknown, Bruce wasn’t sure if Ethan was fine or if the gas did affect him badly. When Ethan didn’t want anyone helping him, he had a feeling that the gas, along with Joker’s taunting, had a neurological effect on him.

Bruce was half right. He didn’t know how much of it was the gas and how much of it was Joker’s words but Ethan’s mental state did change… as well as his physical being. He wouldn’t find that out until he investigated who was harassing and threatening Chief Rojas. At first, himself and Yin thought that it was Joker; the antics were almost identical. It wasn’t until she caved in and asked for Batman’s assistance that they found out that it was Ethan all along; he had transformed into a clay-like creature, capable of shape shifting into anyone… and anything he chose. After a bit of research, Bruce came up with a cryogenic-type solution that froze the man in place; he was captured and was awaiting trial.

He had no idea how to tell Tabitha about everything that had gone down in the mere three weeks since the last time they had spoken to Ethan; he figured that the best way would be the direct way. She was already heartbroken, had already figured that she had lost the man that she loved. It would be painful but he knew that it was something that she had to hear.

He found her in the cafeteria area, eating. She looked up at him and stopped chewing on her French fries; the look on his face said it all. She slowly finished her food and looked down at her plate.

“What happened to him?” she simply asked. He sighed and sat down beside her.

“He’s… transformed…” he looked dead at her. She gave him a weird look but then slightly sighed.

“… That’s why he wouldn’t open the door…” she realized and Bruce nodded; the transformation had been only a couple of hours after he had inhaled the gas, “Into what?” she was actually afraid of the answer. For him not to let his closest friends see him or even help him, she figured that it was something hideous.

“Clay. When I went to save him… I didn’t know that Joker’s putty gun had leaked out some gas. He got a pretty good whiff of it. It did some mental damage as well; it’s why he went after Rojas.”

“… I thought he just mouthed off at him?”

“He did, at first. But, after he transformed… he tried to kill him…”

“Shit…”

“I know. We got him… and he’s awaiting trial…”

“He got arrested?” she looked at him and Bruce nodded. As much as she knew that it was wrong, part of her felt that Rojas deserved to have gotten threatened; he had put Ethan and Yin through so much pressure to try to rid the city of Batman and it wasn’t fair to push them the way that he did. She knew what it felt like to have vengeance just sitting there, heating up in the body until it finally toppled over; her heart went out to him, “Can he… have visitors?”

“Yes.” he was glad that she asked; he had made plans on visiting his friend. He knew how much the former detective had gone through and came up with another plan, “I want to tell him that I’m Batman. Maybe… just maybe it would calm down his mentality.”

“You sure?” she eyed him. He had a point; if Ethan found out that his best friend was the vigilante that he had been ordered to hunt down, it could very well put his mind at ease: the man had no problem with the caped crusader helping GCPD out. Then again, Tabitha realized, finding out that Bruce was the reason behind why Rojas had pushed them so much… could very well send his mental state over the edge. Maybe if another piece of the puzzle was revealed, he would take the news as kindly as possible.

“Then… I guess we’re all cleaning out our closets…”

When the two arrived at the Gotham Jail, they were surprised to be greeted by Yin. So much for revealing things, Tabitha almost smirked to herself. Yin gave Bruce a slight look but gave Tabitha a warm smile.

“I knew you’d want to see him. Are you sure you’re ready?” she was genuinely concerned. She knew how close the two were, how much they loved each other; she didn’t know how the technician would take seeing her boyfriend in the state that he was. Tabitha blew out a shaky breath and nodded.

“Cocked, locked and ready to rock…”

Yin led the two towards the back and were greeted by two officers standing guard by a glass door. Inside was a laboratory; it looked as if they had to redesign the forensics lab to house a special cell for Ethan. Tabitha looked in slight horror at the grey glob of clay that paced angrily in the glass cell. She quickly turned to look at Bruce and Yin.

“Is that… Ethan?!”

“Yes.” Yin sighed, “Maybe you’ll be enough to calm him down a little.” it was a subtle way of telling her to approach the glass. Her heart thumped as she did and it grabbed the glob’s attention. He stopped pacing and simply stared at Tabitha. He went through numerous emotions in a matter of seconds: surprise, embarrassment, relief, hurt and finally love; it was a mixture of the last two as he saw her eyes water.

“Ethan…” she half-whispered. She placed her hand on the glass. A part of his clay body did the same, Tabitha assumed that it was his hand. His once whiskey brown eyes were sunken into the clay, forming green orbs but they still showed emotion: he wanted to touch her once again. The desperation in his eyes were enough to make her tears fall; she wanted to touch him as well. She wanted to let him know that everything would be okay and that it wasn’t totally his fault for the things that happened to him. She wanted to let him know that she still loved him… and still wanted to be with him. She turned to Yin, “Let me in.” she demanded through her tears. The guards who were at the door were now inside and immediately showed their dissatisfaction with her request. However, Yin stepped forward.

“He won’t hurt her; go ahead.” she ordered. One of the officers unlocked the glass door and almost shoved Tabitha in, locking the door immediately behind her. She found herself alone with the glob that was once Ethan and found herself slightly afraid. When his clay hand reached out to her, she stiffened a bit.

“Tabitha…” his voice was gargled and hoarse. He saw that she was slightly uncomfortable in his presence and quickly turned around, “I… I didn’t want you to see me like this…”

“Then… let me see you the way you want me to see you.” she told him. He looked at her finally and immediately transformed to his former self. Coming towards her, the two embraced and shared a passionate kiss. She was surprised that he felt the same and marveled at how quickly he learned to adapt to his new form.

“After everything you heard… you came back to me…” he wanted to cry. She slightly smiled.

“That don’t matter. Told you that I’d come back to you; I love you, Ethan.”

“I love you, too. You… didn’t have to cut your trip short for me. I know that your mom…”

“Ethan…… I lied…” she couldn’t take telling him another lie. On their way to visit him, Bruce had told her the entire story… and she felt awful that it was mainly because of her that Ethan had transformed; had she not lost her cool with The Penguin, Joker would not had known who Nikki Strykher really was.

Ethan gave her a puzzled look, wondering what reasons she would have to lie to him.

“You weren’t in Tennessee this whole time…? I don’t understand…”

“… Do you know where Watchtower is?” she took a shaky breath before speaking. He nodded slowly, “I was there.”

“I still don’t understand; why would you tell me…” he was clueless. She felt that the only way to tell him would be to show him. She looked back at Yin and Bruce; the woman’s face was as puzzled as Ethan’s while Bruce just stared at her. She was about to reveal her identity in front of Yin and had hoped that she was willing to deal with the consequences of doing so.

Tabitha stepped away from Ethan, took another deep breath and yanked her t-shirt head wrap off of her head, letting her snow-white hair drop messily around her face. Both Yin and Ethan stared wide-eyed at her.

“The lightning woman! Did you know?” Yin threw an accusing eye towards Bruce. He put on his best surprised look.

“N-no; this is all new to me! No wonder she was good at what she did…”

“Bat’s sidekick…” at least he got the answer finally to why she always wore that head wrap. Tabitha didn’t want to look at him but did and saw that he was frozen in place. He didn’t attack her or even yell at her; she wanted to take that as a good thing, “Why didn’t you tell me before…?”

“I… I wanted to but… I didn’t know how. I’m sorry…”

“Why…” he approached her slowly. He didn’t know how he felt about it; all he knew was that for some reason, he wasn’t upset. He also finally put two and two together; why Joker was so adamant about her coming to save him. He didn’t understand at first; he didn’t know what she would be able to do to save him. As he stared at her hair, remembering the first night he had seen her, he understood completely. What made him shake his head and almost smile was that… he should’ve went with his first instinct that the lightning woman was indeed his Tabitha.

“I wanted to make your life easier. I thought that… if I could catch Batman or at least show that he wasn’t bad then maybe… maybe Rojas would’ve cut you some slack.” it was the first time Bruce had heard the reason behind her playing super heroine in Gotham. Even Yin had to lightly smile at her reasoning, “So… you ain’t mad at me…?” Tabitha tried. He responded by cupping her face and giving her a light kiss on the lips.

“No! Baby… you did all of that for me. I’m a bit upset that you didn’t tell me earlier…”

“You would’ve talked me outta it…”

“I would’ve!” he laughed and hugged her. Ethan had to admit that it was thrilling to know that his girlfriend was the lightning woman; the very one who tried her best not to hit himself and his former partner with her ability the first time they seen her. The very one… who was always with Batman. It made him slightly smile, leaning as close to her ear as possible, “Do you know who Batman is?” he whispered. It made her think about the conversation in the cafeteria as well as the ride to the jail. Bruce had made up his mind and was going to tell his good friend. However, she knew that with Yin and the other officers in the room, Bruce couldn’t confess. She didn’t see a problem with it being her instead of him telling Ethan; he took her news pretty well.

“Yeah. It’s… Bruce…” she whispered back. He stopped hugging her and looked dead into her eyes with a hint of a smile. Was she joking, he wondered. Although he was a former detective, he could still tell when someone was lying; her eyes didn’t flinch as he studied her. Ethan’s expression changed to a confused one.

Yin may not have caught it but Bruce did; the two were whispering to each other. He had a feeling about what; it started to burn into his stomach as Ethan slowly glanced at him. He was studying him, he knew for a fact. Tabitha had taken the liberty in telling him herself who Batman was. He didn’t know if he was grateful for it; he didn’t like how Ethan stared at him. Bruce swallowed hard and started to approach the glass cell.

Before anyone could blink, Ethan transformed back to his clay form. She had opened her mouth but an appendage wrapped around her neck before a sound came out. He had forgotten that she was in the room with him as she was slammed hard into the glass wall; he simply glared at Bruce.

“You! You were supposed to be my friend! How could you?!” he raged; all the while the appendage wrapped around Tabitha’s neck started to harden, making her gag for air.

“Open the door!!” Yin yelled at the fear-frozen officers. One finally rushed to do so while Yin and the other officer raised their weapons, “Tabitha, shock him!!” she had hoped that the woman was conscious enough to do so. However she didn’t move except to try to claw the appendage away from her throat. She had made a promise… and no matter what was happening to her, she wasn’t going to break it.

As Ethan emerged from the door, the officers and Yin fired on him; Bruce was glad that the guards had been equipped with special weapons that would stop him in his tracks. As the bullets entered his clay form, they began to freeze him. He had to act fast; Bruce ran into the glass cell and pried Tabitha out of his grasp: with the bullets quickly freezing Ethan, he had become distracted long enough to loosen his grip on his girlfriend. Bruce had her out of the cell and her head wrap back around her head just as other officers flooded the room. He looked at her as she tried to get her breathing back to normal.

“What were you thinking; why didn’t you shock him? He could’ve killed you…” he half whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head.

“I… I wasn’t going to hurt him… ever again…”

* * *

Bruce had informed J’onn of everything that had happened. The Martian just looked straight ahead as the two made their way to her room.

“That’s why she hasn’t been able to concentrate.” he finally had the answer. He had known that something drastic had happened two weeks ago; something that distracted her from her training. She had barely completed the mandatory training sessions however because her thoughts were jumping all over the place, making her unable to fully focus, he wanted to put her through more training.

“I was wondering… maybe she should be kept off a few missions. Just until she’s able to fully concentrate.”

“Who is to say how long that will be? What if she never recovers from her heartache?”

“I know Tabitha; she’ll recover. She just needs a little time to collect her thoughts.”

“I guess we could assign her to minor missions. Maybe put her on crowd control and cleanup…” J’onn thought. Bruce slightly smiled.

“She’s also an outstanding electrical technician…” he pointed out.

“Let’s talk to her about it. It would be nice; having another one of our own taking care of Watchtower…”

“Maybe you should start trusting humans more…”

“Once you do the same, I will follow in your footsteps…” he smirked at Bruce.

She didn’t know what she would’ve done with herself if Bruce didn’t take the time to check up on her after the ordeal with Ethan. Despite what happened that day, Bruce still stood up for Ethan during his trial and the former detective was put on probation.

Tabitha couldn’t help but to replay the incident over and over in her head; it painfully reminded her of how she would lose it. She finally saw firsthand how rage affected others; he had no idea that he was hurting her… and he wasn’t stopping. It scared her enough to make the decision that she was not coming back to Gotham… or Ethan Bennett. It was painful; many days, she just wanted to pack her clothes and go back to him: he sure did need the support at the moment. However, how was she to live with the fact that although his probation included that he **not** transform into anything, he could still lose it and snap? She couldn’t; neither could he: they both made the mutual agreement to break up.

She got up from her bed to open her door. When she saw that Bruce was being accompanied by J’onn, she automatically tried to make her mind go blank. It was a hard task seeing that she loved to think to herself. However, she knew that the Martian had enough on his hands; he didn’t need to worry about some heartbroken newbie.

She put on a faint smile as she let the two in. She slightly warmed up as Bruce sat down beside her on the bed.

“How are you?” he asked. She shrugged; while it was a slow and painful process, she was learning to try to move on.

“A bit better, I guess. Wait…” she looked over at J’onn who stood by the wall and back at Bruce, “You told him…?”

“He needed to know why you couldn’t concentrate.” he explained. Tabitha could do nothing but nod.

“Guess you’re not here to give me some advice…” she hadn’t meant for it to be cruel. However, she had a feeling that although he had human features, there were just some situations that he would have no answer for.

Her unintentional snide remark only made him think of his past. He had to admit that she was right; he wouldn’t be able to give her any good advice. The Martian had indeed been married before with a child until the destruction of his race. He had only fallen in love once after that but had chalked that experience up to a mixture of being slightly brainwashed and lonely. The experience made him think more about his decisions as well as his trust in humans. He had concluded that he would never find anyone for him and was fine with that.

Bruce smirked at her words but knew that he would be even less helpful than J’onn. His track record in the love department was not any better. If anything, he tried to avoid falling in love. As he had seen with Tabitha and Ethan, it proved quite a distraction; she loved him so much that she was willing to die so that she wouldn’t hurt him.

“I wish I could…” J’onn actually tried to think of something to tell her.

“You know that none of this was your fault, Tabitha…”

“That don’t make it less painful…” she fought tears. Deep down, she knew that Bruce was just being nice. It **was** her fault; had she had better control of her rage, The Penguin would had never found out her true identity. Ethan would have not been kidnapped and they probably would have been engaged.

“It’ll leave; trust me. And then maybe… well, I **know** someone else will come along! Who knows; he could be right underneath your nose…” it made him smile. He immediately thought about how Wally had quickly grown attached to Tabitha. He knew that the man was quick to befriend people but she was different. Everyone saw that their bond was fast and special… as well as childish! The two raced each other whenever they had the chance (which was very, very often), even ignoring the warning glares J’onn would give them! The Martian was very reluctant in letting Wally train her in fear of the two not getting any training done. However, he did see that he was helping her with her speed. Both Bruce and J’onn saw that Wally had not been so genuinely happy before Tabitha arrived.

She thought nothing of his words at first, about to excuse it as Bruce trying to make her feel better. However, as the words sank in, she had to give him a slight look. Right underneath her nose; was he hinting at himself? The thought made her wonder how Bruce truly felt about her; she knew that they were friends and that they were willing to protect each other. As far as any romantic link between the two, she had never thought about it. Maybe it was because she was too wrapped up in Ethan to make some type of realization. It made her laugh a bit at the idea.

“Guess I’ll take your word for it! Thanks, Bruce…” she said. His words also made her think back to everything he had done for her: the on-the-spot job offer, getting the apartment, always inviting her to eat at the diner with him; even assigning her as his personal electrician. She was a complete stranger, a potentially dangerous one given her powers, and he didn’t hesitate in hiring her or even befriending her. She knew that she was pretty; she got enough compliments throughout her life to know this; however she knew and saw that it went beyond that with Bruce. What he just said **had** to be an obvious hint: Bruce Wayne really was in love with her! It made her blush and hug him.

“Anytime.” he returned the hug.

“In the meanwhile, I wanted to give you a slight rest. I don’t want to assign you to any major missions just yet, not until you’re comfortable enough to go on them. Would you mind looking at some of the electrical components around Watchtower?”

“You putting me on house arrest…?” it actually bothered her that it felt as if he was trying to babysit her. However, the Martian shook his head.

“I don’t want to exclude you from all missions; only the large ones. It’s only temporary.” he tried. She thought about what he said. She had to admit that she was distracted by her heartbreak. J’onn was only looking out for her well-being and she figured that it was the only way he knew to show that he actually cared about her. She gave him a slight nod and a smile.

“Actually… that sounds good…”

* * *

She was glad that she was recommended to look over some of the electrical and electronic units on Watchtower; it kept her mind off of Ethan and on the jobs that she was assigned. As she finished yet another system configuration for one of the many computer systems, she mentally went over her checklist: she promised Diana that she would take a look at the woman’s gauntlet that she had scratched. When she finished with that, she realized that it was Thursday: that meant it was her and Wally’s game night!

Tabitha started to pack up her toolbox but became distracted as she saw a red blur out the corner of her eye. She smirked.

“Wally…” she playfully warned. He appeared in front of her and smiled.

“Done yet?”

“With the upgrades for the day; yeah. Gotta go see Diana and…”

“Nope!”

“… Nope?”

“She’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I got the greatest idea… ever! Instead of game night, how ‘bout we go out?”

“Go out? Like out, out? Club-type shit?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t know; are we allowed…?” she tried but he started laughing.

“What are we, teens?! Yes, we’re allowed! Maybe your friend would want to come out, too…”

“Doc? She can’t go; she has kids…”

“We’ll just get J’onn to babysit; he likes kids…” he waved it off. The image was enough to make her go into stitches.

“Do you know how much shit the trips gave me for my white hair? You know what they’d do when they see a fucking seven foot tall Martian?!”

“He’s only what, six-seven; six-eight? Nowhere near seven foot…”

“Whatever; you still setting him up for failure!” it made her laugh still. Tabitha shook her head as she tried to calm down, “I’ll give her a call.”

“Does that mean…”

“Yeah; she’s gotta help me pick something out to wear!”

She was glad that her best friend was able to go out with the two; the three were in a club in Metropolis and were having the time of their lives. It was something that she hadn’t done… ever; ever since entering adulthood, Tabitha had no real interest in the club scene. She only started drinking socially when she met the professor and it was rare to see her with any type of drink. When she noticed that Bruce didn’t drink at all (although he made sure that the paparazzi always caught him with a drink in his hand, he never even put his lips to the glass), it curbed her drinking even more.

So, she was surprised that she found herself slightly tipsy as she made her way off the dance floor and back to their table. She knew that the pitcher of beer the three were sharing was low; however, as she sat down, Wally pushed a full glass of it towards her: the pitcher was filled to the brim. She looked around and back at Wally.

“Where’s doc?”

“… Why do you always call her that? Doesn’t she have a name?” his question made her giggle.

“That’s how she introduced herself to me!”

“Oh. She’s in the restroom. Something about beer going right through her…”

“Hmm…” she looked at the full pitcher. How many had they gone through already? She knew that she had a few glasses but she knew that the professor and Wally had almost double what she had! It was no wonder the woman was running back and forth to the restrooms.

“Tabby?” Wally saw that her attention went elsewhere. She slightly raised her eyebrows at him, “You don’t need to be so down, you know? There’s plenty of fish in the sea! And… you got a shark after you right now!” he continued. She gave him a look.

“What you getting at?”

“Really! You mean to tell me that you haven’t noticed?! Well… if it’s gone over your head, I won’t say anything else!”

“That ain’t fair! How you gonna bring it up and drop it?!” she stared at him. He ignored her, looking away and sipping on his beer. She smirked, “It’s you, ain’t it?!” it was enough to make him choke on his beer.

“What?! No! I mean, don’t get me wrong; you’re really pretty and all that! But, I think of you as a sister! We have way too much fun together to be… together, you know?” he reassured. She leaned back in the chair and shrugged.

“You’re right. So… this shark… how big we talking?”

“I told you I wasn’t going to say anything else…”

“Not even a hint?!”

“Fine! Think great white!” he motioned dramatically. Although she laughed, it made her think about Bruce. It has to be him, she thought to herself.

“I think I know who you’re talking about. So… what do I do, then?”

“You like him, right?” he asked. She took a huge sip from her glass and thought about it. Of course, she did but she had never thought of him in **that** way. He was her boss and her friend; she respected both aspects. She would’ve been blind not to see how handsome he was. It was no wonder women threw themselves at him; being extremely rich helped out as well! She never took into consideration just how much so until she found out that he funded the building of Watchtower; it was no wonder Wally thought of him as a “shark”!

“I guess I do…”

“Well, that solves that! Go after him! Let him know how you feel.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to just jump into another relationship like that…” she had to be honest with herself.

“At least tell him that you’re interested. I’d think he would understand! Besides, just think about the benefits you’ll have as his main squeeze when the time comes!” he smiled and winked at her. She blushed, pushing him slightly but couldn’t help thinking about those benefits.

She would’ve thought that she would’ve been hung over from all the drinking the three did. She found out that it was not the case as she made her way to Diana’s room the following early afternoon. She smiled at Tabitha as her door opened.

“Weren’t you supposed to be here yesterday?”

“Shit! Forgot to tell you! Me and Wally went out…” she started but Diana laughed a little and shook her head.

“Should’ve known! Come on in.” she let the young woman in. Tabitha couldn’t help but to look around the room, which was garnished with items that she had only read about during mythology lessons in school; all that time, she thought that they were just that: myths, “I see that you’re looking better.” Diana continued. Tabitha turned around and smiled.

“Not one hundred percent but I’m getting there. It’s all thanks to Wally… and Bruce.” it made her smile thinking about him, “He’s been there for me from the start of the whole thing. And then last night, Wally pointed out how he really felt about me…”

“Oh! So, Wally finally confessed!” Diana’s words surprised Tabitha. She thought about what she had just said and laughed slightly.

“No; me and Wally are just friends. What I meant was that he pointed out how Bruce really felt about me.”

“He said that Bruce is in love with you?” she was shocked. Tabitha picked up on the change of tone and looked at her.

“… Not in those exact words. Is he… not supposed to feel that way towards me?” she wondered if they had a sort of fraternization code like the military. However, if that was the case, why would Wally point it out, telling her to pursue the idea?

“It’s just a little hard to believe… especially seeing that I’ve been after his heart for the longest. I figured that I would’ve known if he had feelings for someone else; Bruce isn’t the type of person to lead someone on.” Diana explained. Tabitha hid her slight disappointment and had to agree with her; Bruce was not the type of person to mislead someone. If he had feelings for Diana, she wouldn’t want to be in the way. It was a longshot anyway, she told herself as she shrugged.

“Guess he was seeing something that wasn’t there. I told him that Bruce was just being friendly…”

“He likes to look out for those he cares for. So… I will like to see how you can fix this!” Diana gave her the golden bracelet. Tabitha studied it and slightly smiled.

“No problem.”

She had to find out for herself. It still haunted her that Wally would point her in Bruce’s direction; there had to be a specific reason for it. For all she knew, he didn’t know about everything that Bruce had done for her. She had found him in one of the recreation rooms, watching TV; he had just come back from a mission and was winding down a bit, still in his Batman outfit without the mask. He looked up and smiled at Tabitha.

“Can I talk to you… alone?” she saw that there were a few Justice League members roaming about. He shrugged, nodded and followed her out into the hallway.

“Is everything okay?” he was worried about the way she approached him; she had this look of unsureness.

“… Do you like me?” she bluntly asked. He found it a bit weird that she needed to have this confirmed but smiled anyway.

“Of course I…”

“No; **like** me, like me…”

“… Oh.” part of him wanted to laugh at the way she asked, as if she was still a teenager. Maybe the subject embarrassed her; she was turning slightly red as she waited for his answer, “I’m sorry if I misled you in any way but I consider you my good friend; that’s it.”

“So… you and Diana are…”

“What? No. Diana and I are just friends as well. I… have this thing about dating Justice League members; I don’t do it. There’s too much at risk for me to do it. I…” Bruce thought carefully about his words. She was a close friend of his now; he shouldn’t be ashamed of telling her everything, “I don’t know how I would take it if a villain used my love for someone else as leverage.”

“I get it.” she actually did. It was better for him to stay friends with someone, especially a member of the Justice League.

“Did someone tell you that I had feelings for you?”

“… Kinda. That damn Wally…”

“Wait; Wally put that idea in your head? That’s who **I** was hinting at the other day!” it made him laugh. She widened her eyes at him.

“Why would you think that?!”

“Admit it; you two have a lot in common.”

“He’s like a brother to me…”

“So, nothing going on between you two?”

“Ew; no!” her reaction made him laugh fully. He could imagine Wally reacting the same way; the two were definitely teenagers at heart.

* * *

She couldn’t stop thinking about it. Who was Wally hinting towards? Every time she tried to ask, he would either immediately change the subject or simply tell her that he wasn’t saying another word. “Think great white”. It only made her think about the founding members; she knew that it had to be one of them. Bruce and Wally were out of the equation; they both told her how they really felt about her. That left Superman (he told her that she was allowed to call him Clark or Kal-El, whichever one made her feel more comfortable), Diana, Green Lantern (who preferred for her to call him John) and J’onn (she wasn’t worried about the last member; seeing that she didn’t know who it was, they were a non-factor).

Diana was out because she was obviously in love with Bruce (plus Tabitha didn’t think that she was bisexual). Clark was in love with Lois Lane, a fellow reporter at The Daily Planet; she wasn’t even around him much for him to grow some sort of infatuation towards her. She and John had a couple of things in common; both were in the military. However, he was dating Vixen, another Justice League member. The only one left… was J’onn.

Tabitha shook her head at the thought. No way; J’onn J’onzz was **not** in love with her! There was absolutely no way, she tried to reason. They were the total opposite of each other; they were two different species (that thought only made her slightly giggle, thinking about what the professor had to say on that matter)! He was super intelligent; he always helped her with any problem she had with a computer system (she found out that most of the technology onboard was Martian technology as it was): she had to have a lot of things broken down to layman’s terms for her to understand it! She had never seen him get mad or even confused whereas before her rehabilitation, she was quick to lose her temper, not caring who was in her path. She was pretty sure that she had changed drastically since her treatment but the fact still remained that she was capable of losing her temper.

She thought about the other qualities the Martian had and couldn’t help but to blush. He was indeed very handsome; that was obvious from her earlier bouts of blushing whenever he looked at her! He was always calm, even when she felt that she worked his last nerves; that was a quality that she admired. While there had been no indications on who was the clear leader of the Justice League, everyone respected J’onn and took his word as gold, no matter what. If she thought about it, even his voice could send shivers up and down her spine! She didn’t know if she was actually in love with him but Tabitha had to be fair and not shoot down the idea. It made her realize what Wally meant when he mentioned the benefits she would have; being the girlfriend of the Monitor of Watchtower was nothing to shake a stick at!

She tried to push her thoughts to the side as she took a long awaited break from upgrading one of the recreation rooms. She had a lot on her plate that day and didn’t see the harm in kicking her feet up on the loveseat. As she stretched and decided to turn the TV on, she saw that she wasn’t alone; looking into the eyes of J’onn made her immediately straighten up.

“Oh! J’onn! I… I was just taking a small break…” her stumbling made him smile.

“You’re not a part of the civilian staff; there’s no need to be on a set schedule. You’re allowed to take breaks!” he smiled down at her, “Which, I’m glad that you’re doing; I have a small training session for you.”

“Oh… okay…” she slightly shrugged, following him to one of the tables. It was then that she noticed he had a box with him. As he sat down and opened it, she slightly smirked, “Oh… I don’t know how to play chess…”

“I know. This is why I’m going to teach you.” he announced as he started to set the pieces up. She gave him a look but sat down across from him, anyway.

“… Why…?”

“It’s good to exercise your brain as well as your body.”

“Oh.” she had to admit that it made sense. Her eyes suddenly widened and then narrowed at the Martian, “It won’t be fair…” she realized. He stopped setting up the pieces and returned the look which made her laugh and point to her head, “Mind reader, remember?” she pointed out. It was enough to make him laugh.

“It’s not fun if I have to cheat.”

“Oh? So, this ain’t fully business…”

“Hmm… I guess not…” he gave her a small smirk. It made her blush heavily but she returned the smirk, being warmed at the fact that the two were spending time together, “First things first: let me explain the pieces…”

An hour later, the two were engaged in a practice game. Tabitha stared at her knight, trying to remember how it moved. She tried to pay as much attention as possible while he explained the moves of each piece however she knew that she wouldn’t grasp everything in one sitting. She slightly bit her lip as she attempted to move the piece but became flustered as J’onn laid a gentle hand over hers.

“No. Remember; the knight moves two paces up and one pace to the left or right.” he corrected. She frowned up at her blunder but nodded.

“Right, right! See; I told you I was a rock!” she mentioned and he laughed.

“It takes some getting used to; I never expected for you to master chess in an hour! You’re not a rock!” he reassured and she smiled. She tried to figure out the consequences of her move as well as thought of something else that had been on her mind since meeting him.

“Can I… ask you something?”

“I’m listening.”

“… Why are you called a ‘Manhunter’?”

“It’s what detectives were called on Mars.”

“You were a detective?”

“Yes.”

“… Cool…” she wondered how ironic that was; it didn’t guarantee that the two would be together but Tabitha couldn’t shake the coincidence. She finally made her move and put her head in her hands, hoping that it was a right one, “Can I ask you something else?”

“Of course. Whatever you want to know.” it slightly surprised him that she was interested in learning more about him.

“H-How do you feel about… Justice League members dating?” she made the decision to semi beat around the bush; she couldn’t bring herself to asking him outright if he found her attractive or even if he liked her in the way that Wally thought that he did. J’onn analyzed her move and question at the same time; he could feel that the question made her nervous and wondered why.

“I don’t have anything against it. This isn’t the military so there’s no need to worry about fraternization here. I’ve seen that it’s a personal preference; some feel that being in love complicates things while others don’t.” he explained. She nodded and finally looked at him.

“G-Given the chance… w-would you…” she felt her cheeks ache as she asked. The question took his attention away from the game completely; no one ever wanted to know these things about him. He looked dead at her.

“Do you know if someone is attracted to me, Tabitha?” he usually didn’t let curiosity get the best of him. However, this was a special circumstance; this was a matter of love. When he saw that she turned a slight shade of red from his question, even attempting to shy away from him, J’onn didn’t have to use his ability to figure out the answer, “I see. I’m quite flattered that you’re attracted to me. To say that this is unexpected may be an understatement; I assumed that you were attracted to Wally…”

“Why does everyone think that?! Me and Wally are just friends!” she sighed out heavily, “Don’t get me wrong; I… do find you attractive. But… Wally was the one who kinda pointed it out that… you’re attracted to me.”

“Wally told you that I was attracted to you?” it surprised him.

“Not in so many words…”

“I should apologize; he was under the wrong impression. Maybe he looked too much into the two of us being around each other so much. I would like to be considered your friend. It never dawned on me to attempt a relationship with you…”

“You don’t have to explain anymore; I get it. I knew it was a silly thought…” she couldn’t look at him. He didn’t know what it was; was it sympathy that he felt for her? J’onn gave her a warm smile and made her look at him, gently tipping her head up by her chin.

“It was not silly at all. You have a warm personality and you’re very attractive; it was highly possible for anyone here to be attracted to you, including myself. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. I believe that Wally was only trying to cheer you up.” he tried to reassure. She thought about it and nodded.

“I guess so.”

“So, you’re fine with the two of us being friends?” he really wanted to know. She slowly smiled and nodded.

“I’ll accept that. Now… you gonna make a move or what?” her brashness took him off guard. He narrowed his eyes at her but couldn’t help finally smiling at her.


	14. Taking One for the Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Dialogue in italics indicates speech via telepathy*

A year had passed since she made her home on Watchtower. There were a couple of things that she had long gotten over: her ex-boyfriend who was now on the run and known as Clayface (it saddened her that he turned rogue after all that Bruce tried to do for him; she felt even worse that she knew that it would happen) and finding a cure for the mutant DNA strand in her body. Tabitha had other things to occupy her time. She was now considered a full-time technician aboard Watchtower and anyone who needed something that required her expertise hunted her down to request it.

While this kept her busy, she also saw that it kept her off a lot of the major missions. She didn’t know whether to blame the Martian for any of it (he was the only one she actually reported to when it came to doing her work around the space station) but she had a feeling that a lot of her assigned jobs could’ve been placed on hold in order for her to go on a mission. When she thought that she was done with upgrades, he would give her lessons every now and then on how to monitor Watchtower; his theory was that since she was working on the electrical components as it was, there was no harm in teaching her how to monitor.

Learning the controls in the control room guaranteed that the two were around each other more often, which only fueled her attraction to him even more. She knew that she had agreed to be just friends but Tabitha couldn’t tell her feelings that. The only thing stopping her from confessing that her feelings had grown deeper was the fact that she knew he didn’t feel the same. It didn’t bother her much; she knew that he was avoiding romantic relationships with anyone. What bothered her was that it felt that he was hindering her from going on missions. The only times she went was when any of the other founding members specifically requested that she was put on their team.

She was too shy to make her dissatisfaction known to him; for all she knew, anyone who didn’t agree with the Martian would be less likely to go on a mission ever again, not even for cleanup or crowd control! She came up with a plan and smiled to herself as she watched the others across from her in the cafeteria. J’onn was sitting with Diana and John and the three seemed to be having a nonchalant conversation. Tabitha’s smile finally appeared on her face as she looked at the brown bag that sat in the chair beside her; if she had to bribe the Martian into letting her go on more missions, she would!

Her plan had included her getting up, approaching the three and excusing herself and J’onn. However, as she looked him over, she found herself stuck to her seat. He took a couple of careful bites every now and then and she realized that it was the first time that she had seen him eat. It made her mind wander off to other things: what did Martians actually eat and how did their digestive systems worked? Did they have the same organs as humans or were there a few extra/missing parts? As she studied his broad shoulders and muscular chest, she also wondered if the rest of his race had been built the same. Bruce had told her that the Martian was a shape shifter and had preferred his current form to make himself appear more human; however his current shape wasn’t too far from what he really looked like. She tilted her head slightly, resting it in the palm of her hand and tried to picture what he really looked like. Of course, the first image that appeared in her mind was the clichéd large head, opaque oval eyes and small body. It was enough to make her stifle a giggle and go back to admiring his current form, involuntarily tracing the outlines of the muscles in his arms and chest.

She had realized too late that she was a few thoughts away from thinking about him the way the professor did when J’onn suddenly straightened up and stared at her. She bit her lip, blushed and sighed; seeing that he had yet again went through her mind, the “bribe” was going to be used for something else.

“ _J’onn… could you come here for a sec, please? Don’t act like you’re not in my mind…_ ” she actually smiled at him. He returned the smile, excused himself and made his way over to her. He kept his smile as he sat down across from her.

“I believe I gave myself away…”

“That you did!” she smirked. He couldn’t help it; he was used to Dr. Lindsey having those thoughts about him but Tabitha was an entirely different story! She grabbed the bag and placed it on top of the table, sliding it towards him, “That don’t matter, though. I know your secret…”

“My… secret?”

“Your guilty pleasure. I know J’onn J’onzz’s weakness!” she teased but nodded at the bag. He gave her a look but reluctantly opened the bag and looked inside. His confused look slowly turned into a smile as he quickly looked at her.

“Oreos…”

“Mmm hmm….”

“This entire bag is for me…?”

“On one condition.” she wanted to roar with laughter at the sad and shocked expression he gave her as she took the bag away, “One package for each week you stay outta my head!”

“… Four weeks…” he noticed but she slightly waved her hand at his words.

“I’ll cut you some slack; three. Stay out my head for three weeks and you get three packages. I’ll add in the fourth but we gotta split it!” she winked at him. He narrowed his eyes at her slightly.

“… I do not share my cookies with anyone…” it really surprised her that the Martian possessed a greedy trait. She had no choice but to laugh.

“I bought ‘em so you’re sharing ‘em! Don’t make me not give you **one** from any of the packs!” she threatened. He opened his mouth to retaliate but thought about her proposition.

“How did you know that I like Oreos?”

“First off, ‘like’ is putting it lightly with you…” she laughed when he gave her a look, “C’mon; you **smell** like the damn things so don’t give me that look!” she teased. She had to admit that smelling like cookies wasn’t a bad thing at all, “Plus, I’ve seen you eat ‘em; it’s like the only thing you eat regularly. Anyway; we gotta deal?”

“What makes you think that I would keep up with my end of the bargain?” he wanted to know. He was the strongest telepathic known in the universe and could go through minds without even trying; how would she know if he did or didn’t go through hers?

“Cuz your name is J’onn J’onzz and you wouldn’t take your word back over some cookies…” she folded her arms and gave him a look. She had hoped that her theory was right; she figured that he was an Oreo addict and would do anything to get them. It wouldn’t kill him **not** to go through her mind for a mere three weeks; his reward for doing so would be substantial, “Well?”

“I will agree to it… only if you play a game of chess with me.” he retaliated. It was enough to make her laugh aloud.

“Ain’t no counter-bargaining outta it!”

“The results of the match have no bearing on anything; I simply would like to play against you…”

“I don’t think you like being outsmarted! Fine…” she smiled. He had to smile back because she was absolutely right; it was very rare that someone would or even could outsmart him. A part of him was actually proud that she had done it almost without trying. Maybe they were around each other a bit too much!

He had seen that even after a year’s time, she still had feelings for him. He hadn’t lied to her; thinking back, he realized that he never confirmed nor denied that he was attracted to her as well. The reality was, he had kept the entire truth from her. He **was** attracted to her… and it bothered him. He had been willing to live his life alone, romantic-wise; he had to agree with Bruce that it was less complicated that way. He wouldn’t have to worry about losing anyone else that was very close to his heart.

J’onn knew that he was not going to win in a battle with his true feelings and accepted the fact that he wouldn’t have minded starting a relationship with the newest member. Not only was she attractive but he admired her mind; it was a reason why he always went through it. She was selfless, always thinking of others before herself. He admired that the most.

Once he admitted to himself that he was attracted to her, the Martian realized why some of the members felt that dating one another would be complicated. He knew that she could take care of herself; he couldn’t help but to be a bit protective of her. It was the main reason why after a year, he did not assign her to many big missions. It wasn’t a matter of trust for him; it was the fact that there was a possibility of her getting seriously hurt, even under the “guidance” of the ones he trusted the most. He knew that it was hampering her but he felt a lot better knowing that she was safe and sound aboard Watchtower; to compensate for it, he started training her on the controls of Watchtower.

Bruce walked inside the cafeteria and noticed J’onn setting up a chessboard in front of Tabitha. He knew about the reasoning behind the Martian teaching the woman how to play chess: it was to make her more strategic. He thought that it was a great idea, as well as the idea of training her behind the controls of Watchtower; with practice, she would probably make a fine replacement for J’onn. What he didn’t agree with was the lack of experience she had on missions. Regardless, he sat down by John and Diana, who were also looking over with curiosity.

“Doesn’t she know that she’s going to lose…?” Diana pointed out. Bruce shrugged.

“Maybe that’s not the lesson to be learned. What brought on the chess game, anyway?”

“I don’t know. I saw her give him something in the brown bag; the way she was smiling, it was more like a gift.” John piped in.

“Probably a bribe to make him assign her to more missions. I think she’s the only one who hasn’t been on many. I don’t understand why he doesn’t let her go on more missions without us. Doesn’t he know that she won’t learn unless she’s out in the field more?” Diana asked no one in particular.

“Maybe he feels that she still isn’t ready.” Bruce held his tongue; he felt the same as Diana but didn’t want to stir anything else up, “Maybe he wants her to finish upgrading Watchtower…”

“She’ll never go on missions, then!” Diana couldn’t help but to laugh a little.

“I don’t know; she’s almost done with the west side. By the way; how’s your armor bracelet?” Bruce smiled towards Diana. He knew that she would just continue to try to argue about how Tabitha’s talents were being wasted staying aboard Watchtower. Diana gave him a thoughtful look and looked down at her bracelets.

“I owe her an apology. I didn’t think that she would be able to do anything to them. They’re actually… better than ever…”

“That’s because she made them indestructible. I think she can make anything indestructible…”

“Hmm… maybe I can arrange for her to have a little talk with Hephaestus; he could probably teach her a few more things.”

“If she can make anything indestructible… it’s no wonder J’onn wants her here on Watchtower.” John said. As the two got up from the table, Bruce went over to where the others had started to gather, watching the chess match between Tabitha and J’onn. He took a quick glance at the open brown bag and slightly smiled; she was indeed bribing him. He wondered how she found out that Oreos were his weakness; while the Martian never hid that he liked the cookies, he tried to hide the fact that he was addicted to them. The thought made Bruce smile even more as he figured that it was very possible Tabitha found out on her own.

He watched as her light brown eyes danced with wonder as she studied every move the Martian made as well as her own moves. Now that she made her home aboard Watchtower, she only wore her t-shirt head wrap when she went down to Earth; her snow-white hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail. Bruce found it cute that whenever J’onn made a move, her forehead would wrinkle slightly as she analyzed the play. He found **her** cute for that matter. She was no longer the obnoxious, hotheaded Nikki Strykher but the Tabitha Lyght that he enjoyed eating at the diner with. He tried to shake the thought out of his head; he couldn’t allow himself to date another member.

Something else had him recollecting his thoughts. Bruce paid more attention to the game at hand and noticed that something wasn’t right. Tabitha was actually winning. She had captured a lot of his pieces and it made him re-analyze J’onn’s moves. He’s holding back, he thought curiously. When J’onn failed to take one of her pieces, setting himself up for her to take advantage, it became obvious that he was indeed holding back. Bruce wondered if anyone else had caught on that the Martian was giving her the game.

Ten minutes had passed and Tabitha was shocked that no one showed their impatience towards her; she was still thinking about her move. No way, she kept saying over and over again in her mind. She knew that she was putting J’onn in check for the past ten moves however this possible move wasn’t right at all, she believed. She knew that she was still trying to grasp the game in its entirety so she wasn’t confident about going through every single scenario as far as possible moves. However, she went through the ones she knew absolutely sure of… and they all came up with the same results. She switched glances from J’onn to her two bishops and king and finally made a move.

“Check… mate?” she gave J’onn a look as she made her move. Everyone who was watching stared in disbelief, waiting for the Martian to confirm. He looked at the game, sat back to analyze and then suddenly narrowed his eyes at the woman, sighing a bit. His king was in the corner, surrounded by her two bishops and her own king.

“Indeed that is. Excellent job, Tabitha.” he finally smiled at her.

“No way…”

“Did she just beat J’onn in chess?!”

“This is unbelievable!” was what was heard from the crowd of onlookers. They left the cafeteria, on their way to tell others that J’onn J’onzz had been beaten in chess by Tabitha Lyght. She hadn’t heard what the others were saying; the only thing that mattered to her was that he had confirmed that she had beaten him. Her eyes widened.

“Shut the fu… shut up; I just beat you?!”

“Do not celebrate for long; it was a minor setback and I will have a rematch…” he assured her but quickly packed up the chess game, much to Bruce’s dismay. Tabitha was about to smirk and make a comment about him being a sore loser until she took everything in perspective. J’onn J’onzz was the smartest person she knew, maybe the smartest person in the universe; how did she after so little training, beat him in a game of pure intellect?

“Wait… something ain’t right…” she finally realized. He had packed up the game too quickly. She gave him a look, “J’onn… did you just let me beat you…?” she lowered her voice. He gave her a warm smile.

“Now… why would I do that?” he kept his smile as he started to leave the area. As Bruce tried to hide his smirk, Tabitha simply watched the Martian leave, wondering what reasons he would have to let her beat him.

* * *

He knew that he had to keep his word; a deal was a deal. As much as he wanted to, J’onn did not go into Tabitha’s mind. He admitted that he actually missed it; he enjoyed hearing her thoughts. Her thought process was unique to him; one thought always connected to another: before she knew it, she would be thinking about an entirely different subject a few moments after the original thought! He found out that there was a selfless reason for almost everything she did. Her work around Watchtower was something that she really took pride in; those thoughts almost always led to her thinking about getting back to her sculpting (he found himself looking forward to seeing one of her art pieces). She wanted to do a sculpture for Clark; although she wasn’t as close to him as she was with Bruce, Wally and J’onn, Tabitha got a kick out of his nickname as “The Man of Steel”: it played perfectly into what she had in mind for him!

J’onn even admired that she acquired a quick bond with Wally and Diana, always looking forward to going on missions with either one or simply hanging out with Wally. While she never asked, Tabitha actually wanted to meet the gods that Diana knew. She enjoyed spending time with Wally for two reasons: they always had fun together and she could see that he was just as thrilled about the two hanging out as she was. Had the two not reminded him of two teenage boys always wanting to pull pranks, J’onn would have thought the two would make the perfect couple!

Her other thoughts surrounded her family. She had considered Dr. Lindsey a part of her family, as well as her husband and children; especially the children. He knew that at times they made her feel a bit uncomfortable, which was common for someone who wasn’t used to being around children that young. However, she saw that they quickly bonded with her and she loved them just as their parents did.

J’onn knew that she hadn’t seen her own family since she obtained the mutant DNA strand and figured that it was time for her to make a visit. She gave him a slight smile as her door slid open.

“J’onn… you gonna cheat and let me win, again?” her smile widened. He laughed.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, as always. You won fair and square…”

“Uh huh…”

“Besides, I didn’t come visit to play a rematch. I have a special mission for you.”

“Wait… what? Really?” she lit up; he had forgotten that she didn’t go on many missions. He kept his smile as he entered her room. Her room was simple, just as his was. Her bed was neatly made save for the spot he assumed she was laying on before he came to visit. There were no pictures anywhere, not even of the professor or the children; J’onn wanted to change that or at least help change that.

“Yes. I want you to go visit your family.” he surprised her. When the thought finally registered, she widened her eyes but sat down on her bed.

“I think it’s… too early…” she looked down at her feet. He slightly sighed and sat down beside her.

“Tabitha, when was the last time you actually saw them?” he knew that she wasn’t going to answer right away. He already knew how long it had been: four years, “Regardless of how you look, regardless of what you are now, I think they deserve to see you. It’s been far too long.”

“… I don’t know…”

“If your family is anything like you… I believe they will be willing to accept you. Take Dr. Lindsey and her children with you; they seem to always calm you down in situations like this.” he realized. Tabitha slowly nodded; he was right: whenever Jamila was with her, she felt more confident about things. For this special “mission”, she would need all the courage and confidence in the world, “Will it put you more at ease if I came along as well?” his next question surprised her. She looked at him and slightly smirked.

“What about Watchtower?”

“I am a world class telepathic; I am always connected to Watchtower wherever I go.” she found it funny that it sounded as if he was actually bragging. Looking him over made her blush and turn away.

“Well… if you’re coming with us, you’re gonna have to… shape shift or something! At least into some more clothes!” she motioned towards his outfit. He looked down at his attire and back at her.

“What is wrong with what I have on? No one has ever complained before…”

“We’re gonna go see doc and the trips… first off, you **know** what type of thoughts go on in that perv’s mind!”

“Which would remain regardless of what I have on.”

“… True… but, the triplets? Yeah… it may be best to just shape shift altogether; they won’t leave you alone if you went like… that…”

“I believe I’m capable of handling a trio of eight year olds!”

“… Okay…”

It was very rare that J’onn J’onzz was wrong about anything; this was an entirely different exception! As the two stood inside the Lindsey household, the children silently and blatantly stared at the tall green Martian. Tabitha gave her best friend a warning glare as she pursed her lips, attempting to hold her laughter in.

“Um…” Albert tried but Tabitha solemnly shook her head.

“I tried to talk him out of it…” she hoped she answered his potential question. Jamil finally got the nerve to tug at J’onn’s cape.

“Excuse me. Is this a costume?”

“A costume? We’re going to a costume party?!” A.C. switched excited glances between the Martian and his brother.

“All we got are our old Halloween costumes… are we gonna go buy new costumes for the party?!” Jamil looked at his parents, his hands still on the cape. It was Solonia’s turn to touch the cape. She looked up at J’onn, studying him.

“Are you a real alien?”

“… He’s a real alien?!”

“COOL!!! Are you a superhero like Superman?!?!” A.C. looked up at J’onn. He was about to answer, despite the muffled snorts from the adults.

“Can you fly? Are you really from another planet? Do you fight crime? Do you fight crime on your planet? Why are you here? Are we in trouble? You come to save us?”

“You really know Superman? And Batman?! And Spider-Man?!?! And, and, and…”

“… Are you a villain…?” the questions bombarded him all at once. He bent down, becoming eye-to-eye with the three and held his hands up. The Lindsey parents were shocked that it immediately silenced the children. J’onn sighed a bit and smiled. He looked at Jamil first.

“This is not a costume. Yes, I can fly. I am from Mars. Yes, I fight crime but not on Mars. As far as I know, you three are not in trouble.” he turned his attention to the next child in line, “I am indeed a superhero like Superman and Batman… and I know both personally. I have yet to meet Spider-Man but I have heard good things about him…” he slyly glanced at Tabitha and then looked at Solonia, “I am not considered an alien but a Martian… and I am very real…”

“What’s the difference between a Martian and an alien? Ain’t they the same…?” Tabitha’s question drew slight glares from both J’onn and Jamila.

“Really?” Jamila asked. Tabitha threw her hands up.

“No offense but they’re **all** from a different planet!”

“You’re **so** gonna be in the doghouse after this…” Jamila mumbled, shaking her head.

“Martians are from Mars, aliens are elsewhere. I hope that I have answered all of your questions…” J’onn put his attention back to the children. They nodded enthusiastically.

“Can we tell everyone that we met a superhero Martian?!”

“Ye…”

“You certainly may not! Just… go upstairs and put your shoes on! We’re going on a trip and I want total silence from all of you!” Jamila lectured. The three moaned and headed upstairs.

“… Are we flying there?” Jamil asked, causing the three to giggle.

“ **BOY**!!” Albert took a menacing step towards the three and they bolted upstairs. Tabitha snorted and giggled, ignoring the warning glares from the parents. Jamila sighed and looked at the Martian.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself, getting my kids all riled up like that! They’re gonna want to go up to Watchtower and meet everyone now!”

Everyone was transported to Chattanooga, in front of Tabitha’s childhood home. Two transports within minutes of each other was about enough Tabitha could take and made the decision that they would stay for a while! As her stomach settled, she swallowed back the lump caught in her throat from looking at the modest two-story home. Studying the surroundings proved that very little had changed in the four years since she last saw her family. There were the same two cars parked in the driveway; her father’s silver Cadillac Escalade and her mother’s Carolina blue Toyota Camry. The asphalt of the driveway was finally finished, she noticed, as well as the off-white siding on the house; her father had been busy. The smell of freshly cut grass let Tabitha know that her youngest brother, Terry still kept up with his chores. Jamila’s hand on her shoulder startled her.

“You can do it. We’re all right here with you.” she reassured. The professor looked behind her and instantly gave her children a warning glare. Her look softened as instead of the three hiding behind their father, they hid behind the Martian! He smiled down at the three.

“Remember: we’re all going to be on our best behavior.”

“Yes, sir…” the three said in unison. Tabitha took a deep breath and approached the door with the others behind her. She knocked on the door and it felt like an eternity before the door opened. A thin woman appeared, being eye-to-eye with Tabitha. Their eye color and the shape of their faces were nearly identical; the two had different features past that. The woman was a shade darker with her hair swept up in a loose dark brown bun with noticeable streaks of grey scattered throughout. Olivia Lyght took a step back and immediately covered her mouth with her hands. Tears had no problem streaking down to her cheeks.

“… Tabitha…” she managed before she gathered her daughter into her arms.

“Mom…” she managed through her own tears.

“Honey, who’s at the door?” a voice almost thundered through the hallway; it was enough to make Tabitha cry even more. Olivia gathered her composure somewhat and noticed that her daughter had others with her.

“Oh; where are my manners? Come in, come in…” her eyes automatically landed on the green man with the blue cape. She couldn’t say anything until the group were in the living room, “Tabby…” her mother eyed her. Before she could open her mouth, a man entered the room. It was then that the others saw who Tabitha really favored; she was the spitting image of Curtis Lyght with the exception of his soft grey eyes. He towered over everyone else with the exception of J’onn… and it wasn’t by much that he was taller than the human man. His off brown hair was cut short and muscles tried to bulge out of his comfortable white t-shirt.

There was only one thing that drew Mr. Lyght’s attention and that was his only daughter. His eyes moistened as he stared at her.

“Is that my baby girl?” his deep southern twang rang out. She immediately ran to him and they gave each other a tight squeeze.

“Daddy!” her tears continued to fall. He had to pull away to examine her.

“I’m so glad you’re back home; you ain’t changed a bit, honey! Well, you gotten a bit pudgy; what you been doing with yourself?” he lightly poked his daughter in her stomach, causing a series of snorts from the adults and an uproar of laughter from the children.

“Daddy…” Tabitha tried to warn, turning a slight shade of red. He gave his daughter another tight squeeze and his eyes finally landed on the strangers in his house.

“Who’s all this?” he actually stared J’onn down. Tabitha cleared her throat, thinking that the best way was to just be straight forward with the introductions.

“Uh, daddy… mom… this is…”

“Tabby!!” a young man’s voice was heard. As she turned around, she was immediately grabbed and twirled around, being lifted off her feet. She looked in amazement at the youngest of the Lyght children; the last time she had seen him, he was at her shoulders. Now that Terry Lyght was the same height as his older sister, the two could’ve passed for twins, “Oh, man; you’re finally home!! I gotta call Ty and tell… whoa!! Is that Martian Manhunter?!?!” he surprised everyone.

“You know who he is…?” Curtis asked his son. He glanced at his father and nodded.

“Are you kidding me?! He’s like only the best superhero there is in the Justice League!”

“Kiss ass…” Tabitha coughed, making her brother immediately push her.

“Justice League…?” their mother continued to look at the Martian, “You’re a… superhero?”

“… No offense but… what are you doing with my sister… wait…” Terry’s eyes widened. Everyone gave him a confused look except J’onn, who actually blushed slightly.

“Your sister and I are not dating.”

“Wait… what…”

“Mr. J’onn and Miss Tabitha are boyfriend and girlfriend?!” Solonia widened her eyes at the two. The thought was enough for A.C. and Jamil to make disapproving faces and for Tabitha to give Solonia and Terry a bewildered look.

“ **What**?! NO!!”

“… You make it sound like a bad thing…” J’onn surprised her even more. When she shot him the bewildered look, it was enough to put a smile on his face and to lighten the mood in the room as the others laughed. She blushed furiously.

“J-Just… can I talk to mom and daddy alone?! Take the triplets upstairs to your room!”

“What? What are they supposed to do up there? I ain’t got no toys for ‘em!” Terry told his sister. J’onn smirked and wondered if bad grammar simply ran in the family or if it was a southern thing; the professor (while not as big of a culprit as her best friend) spoke nearly the same way.

“You still watch wrestling?”

“… Yeah. Don’t tell me you do!”

“These three are avid fans…”

“Really? You guys ever heard of ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage?” he asked, taking the three upstairs. Everyone else sat down in the living room.

“You’re not gonna tell us that he saved you… are ya?” Curtis decided to break the ice. Tabitha bit her lip and sighed slightly.

“Actually… she did…” she pointed to Jamila, “This is doc… uh, Jamila and her husband, Albert. Guess… the only way to tell you everything is to just… tell you…” she decided and started her story. She told her parents everything, from the day the machine malfunctioned on her to her eventually making Watchtower her new home. She was glad that her parents sat and listened without interrupting her; something that was unusual for them, especially since they hadn’t seen their daughter in nearly four years.

As more tears welled up in her mother’s eyes, her father sat in his chair barely moving. He was seething; the general had the nerve to come to their home and tell them that their daughter was deployed over to Iraq. She had never been deployed before; had barely even left the state of Tennessee for that matter, but he knew something wasn’t right when she did not contact them at all. Their worst fears almost came to light when they heard of her best friend’s death in Memphis. Now that he listened to her speak, all of their questions were answered. It still didn’t make things right what General First did.

“That son-of-a-bitch!” he suddenly blurted out.

“Curtis!” her mother looked at him wide-eyed. He shook his head apologetically.

“I’m sorry. That damn general; waltzing in here and telling us nothing but lies…”

“There was no way he would’ve told us the truth; that he killed our baby…”

“Mom…” Tabitha lightly grumbled. She couldn’t help but look at her daughter. She knew that superheroes existed however she never paid much attention to them. Now to hear that her daughter was one of them… it was somewhat unbelievable.

“So… these powers of yours… do you still have them?” her question almost made Jamila cringe in her seat. She knew that she was supposed to have told Tabitha that she would never be normal again… she just never could find the heart or the time to tell her the news. J’onn gave her a slight look; had he known that her best friend couldn’t muster up the nerve to tell her, he would’ve done it himself the moment he found out.

She knew that her mother was the type of person that needed physical proof to believe in anything although she knew that her daughter would not make these things up. It made her slightly huff and immediately took off the t-shirt head wrap. Both parents gasped as she shrugged.

“Side effect of being struck by lightning twice…” she ran her hand through her thick hair, “So is this…” she stood, deciding to give her mother a full demonstration. She let the currents flow from her hands to her arms and made them travel all over her body before letting them dissipate. She had expected for her parents to gasp but not for it to echo. She abruptly looked towards the bottom of the stairs.

“She’s magic, she’s magic; Miss Tabitha’s magic!!”

“Oh, hell…” Jamila knew that her daughter was going to run and tell the others what she saw. Tabitha was right on her heels as the two women tried to catch the girl in time. When they walked into Terry’s room, Tabitha knew they were too late as the triplets bombarded her with excited eyes and jumbled up questions.

“Can you fly like Mr. J’onn?!”

“You know Superman and Spider-Man and Batman, too?!?!”

“Are you a superhero, too?!”

“A super heroine, baby…” Jamila tried to correct A.C.

“Do you fight crime with Mr. J’onn? Do you save the day? Were you sent to protect us?!”

“ **Now** can we tell everyone that we know **two** superheroes?!”

“Guys, guys, guys, guys, GUYS!! Just… calm down for a sec, okay?” she kneeled down towards them, “Okay… yes, I’m a superhero… can it, doc!” she warned as Jamila opened her mouth, “I can kinda fly but not like Mr. J’onn…”

“Wait a sec… what?” Terry looked at his sister. She sighed and stood up.

“That’s the real reason why J’onn is here with me; I’m part of the Justice League, now…”

“Wait………. **WHAT**?!?! Shut up, Tabby… my sister is **not** in the Justice League for real!!”

“This don’t leave this house, Terry!” she sighed once more, “Alright. I’m gonna show you **one time** but you all gotta promise not to tell no one else!” she decided to give them a small demonstration. The triplets and her brother looked on in awe.

“Whoa…”

“COOL!!!!”

“Told you she was magic!” Solonia looked at her brothers. Tabitha looked at her brother, who was still staring at her.

“Well…?”

“That… was… AWESOME! You **gotta** tell me your superhero name!”

“I had two, actually. When I was with Spider-Man…”

“YOU WERE WITH SPIDER-MAN?!?!?! I gotta sit down…” he actually sat down on his bed.

“… And Batman…”

“… I’m gonna pass out…” Terry put his head in his hands. Tabitha shook her head as Jamila laughed.

“Guess that’s gonna make four visitors to Watchtower, now!”

* * *

She was really glad to finally be able to see her family after so long. Despite her warning, Terry called her other brothers, anyway and told them that their sister was a member of the Justice League. Regardless, she had to admit that it felt good spending time with her family once more. J’onn didn’t want to make her family feel even more uncomfortable around him and decided to make his way back to Watchtower, giving her time to be with her loved ones. He knew that once the attention died out on her, the questions would immediately transfer over to himself.

Back on Watchtower, however, Tabitha found herself in the same rut as before: her making upgrades all over the space station and J’onn not letting her go on the big missions. She couldn’t help growing some sort of resentment towards the others who came back with tales of their missions while she was stuck being called on for damage and crowd control. Yet again, she didn’t want to risk voicing her opinion to the Martian. For all she knew, he already knew how she felt; the three weeks were long gone… as well as the three packages of Oreos! Whenever she thought about it, she had to let out a frustrated sigh and continue to work; she felt that she should be happy that she was even a part of the league!

While she reluctantly accepted her role in the league, there was someone who was as frustrated as she was. Bruce thought that it was really unfair but had to realize that it was partially his fault; he was the one who had made the suggestion that she not go on many missions. However, it had been a year and she had clearly moved on; she was definitely ready to take on the bigger missions. He couldn’t fathom the reason J’onn had to keep her away from the big missions; was he afraid that she would forget her rehabilitation, slip up and let her rage take control of her? If that was the case, why was he so reluctant to even assign her to one of the founding member’s team? Bruce knew that even he was capable of stopping her by himself if it was to ever happen again; he had no idea what the Martian’s problem was.

Another thing that was making him slightly frustrated was the sudden feelings he had for the woman. Who was he kidding; they weren’t sudden: they had been building up since he was introduced to Nikki Strykher! It helped that she was a changed person; she was more herself ever since going through her treatment. He understood completely how and why Ethan fell in love with her; what he had seen in her.

As he told himself that any man would be lucky to have her, it made him realize that he was somewhat jealous. Because of her work around Watchtower, she was busy, too busy to spend time with no one else except Wally… and J’onn. He knew that Wally thought of her as a sister and J’onn… Bruce had to admit that he had no idea how the Martian felt about the lightning woman! All he knew was that the two **did** spend a lot of time with each other on a daily basis. If he wasn’t training her on the controls of Watchtower, he was playing chess with her… or sharing a package of Oreos with her. Maybe if he took the time to play chess with her, they would be able to spend time with each other like they did in the beginning of their friendship.

As much as Bruce tried to shake the thoughts out of his head, he couldn’t. He knew that he was adamant about not dating a Justice League member… and this was making it hard on him. It made him think of Diana and how she would react if he was to have went ahead and pursued Tabitha, or at least tell her how he felt. Bruce didn’t want Diana to grow resentment towards either of them, especially seeing that Tabitha would be an innocent bystander in it all. This is the reason why I don’t date within the league, he reasoned to himself. Once he admitted it in his head, it also made him realize that they were all grown. Beyond the fact that Diana was as good of a friend as Tabitha, why did he worry about either of their reactions if he had chosen one of them to date? The other would have to understand, get over it and either continue to be their friend or choose to not deal with them… which would be awkward seeing that the three **had** to work together. Bruce shook his head and continued to walk down the hallway.

As he slowly walked past her door, Bruce knew that some sort of decision should be made. She had to know; he wanted her to know about his feelings for her. Maybe she would decide that it would best to remain friends. The thought made him remember when she approached him with her awkward question of whether he had liked her. Despite Wally putting that idea in her head, she had to have **some** type of feelings for him if she was willing to put herself in an embarrassing situation to find out, he thought. He made the decision as he stood in front of her door; she had to know.

Bruce was about to knock on her door but was stopped by the warning blare from Watchtower, indicating that there was an emergency mission. Before long, he was in the main control room, along with the rest of the Justice League members. He did a quick scan of the room and noticed that Tabitha was nowhere to be found. As J’onn debriefed everyone on the situation in the Midwest portion of the U.S., Bruce wondered if she was on Earth visiting Jamila or her family. He was sure that the Martian would summon her via her communicator, seeing that the mission was huge enough to need almost every available body aboard Watchtower.

As everyone was teleported to the area in question, Bruce was looking forward to seeing Tabitha already there. A couple of teenagers had found an alien ship equipped with robotic insects that were devouring everything in their path; he knew that Tabitha would be able to make quick work of the aliens, knocking them into submission. When he saw no sign of her or her lightning, he shook his head at the reality of things; J’onn decided to not let the woman join the others on this mission.

He had no choice but to fight the things with all that he had however he saw the immediate problem; the insects multiplied every time they were hit. Maybe it was a good thing that Tabitha wasn’t there, he thought as he pressed his communicator.

“Big problem. We’re hitting these things with all we have but they’re splitting into two with every hit…” he notified the Martian. J’onn gave it a quick thought and shook his head.

“Nanotechnology. Can you spare anyone to get to Ray Palmer?”

“I’ll do it myself.” he made the decision. Ray Palmer was better known as the Atom, a physicist capable of shrinking in size; J’onn needed someone to infiltrate the mother ship without being detected. He didn’t know how long it would take Bruce to get in contact with the scientist and with what he was told, he knew that the group needed something else to hold the mechanical monsters until the deed was done. He hesitantly looked over at the button that would launch Watchtower’s main weapon: a nuclear laser.

“I’ll try to buy you some time.” he notified Bruce as he began to set the coordinates. It took Bruce a moment to respond, thinking what the Martian could do to hold off the insects. His eyes slightly widened.

“J’onn…”

“Tell everyone to stand clear for a moment…”

“… Fine…” he had hoped that seeing they were in the middle of nowhere, the radiation wouldn’t be so bad. He sighed as he began to tell the others to fall back; J’onn wouldn’t do anything that would risk the well-being of others.

His plan was to create a crater between the nanobots and the small town; if the crater was large enough, it would buy plenty of time for Bruce to retrieve the Atom. However, the energy it took to fire the laser drained the entire space station of its power. The sounds of Watchtower powering down was enough to knock Tabitha out of her sleep. She blinked a few times, trying to adjust her eyes. When she realized that it was actually pitch dark in her room, that her eyes were not playing tricks on her, she fumbled out of bed, trying to get out of the room. Something happened, she thought as she tried to open her door. Seeing that the power was definitely out, she had to force it open by hand. She was greeted by more darkness and silence; something was definitely wrong, she realized as she tried to find her toolbox. She didn’t bother going through it for her flashlight; she grabbed the box and did a Lightning Cloud to the main room. There was little light there and she saw J’onn’s silhouette standing over the controls. He immediately turned to look at her, a bit of guilt rising through him.

“J’onn…”

“Yes. Everything is fine here.”

“What happened? Where’s everyone?”

“There was an emergency mission on Earth. A large group of nanobots are making their way into a town. I dispatched Bruce to get someone who has a great deal of knowledge to deal with the situation. In the meantime, I had to buy him some time…” he tried to explain. The woman had her flashlight out by then, trying to survey any damage.

“I don’t get it; what did you do?”

“In extreme cases of an emergency, Watchtower was equipped with a nuclear weapon…”

“… w-what?” she stared at him, putting two and two together, “It’s **that** bad down there?! You… nuked everyone…”

“No; I only wanted to create some space between the nanobots and the town. The radiation level was very low.” he hurriedly explained. She let out a small sigh; she should’ve known better than to think that he would do something like that.

“Ugh… how did I sleep through the alarm…? I’m sorry…”

“It’s quite alright. I didn’t want you down there anyway, especially now that I know what we’re dealing with. We’ll be powerless for about an hour. I’ll know the status on Earth then.”

“So… even at the lowest level, it takes away all of Watchtower’s power?” she wanted to think of something else. When he nodded, she focused her flashlight on the main control console, “Hmm… never had to deal with anything nuclear before. Don’t know if I can stop it from draining all the power… maybe shorten the time it takes for the power to come back…” she thought aloud to herself.

“That would be appreciated. I’m hoping that the weapon wouldn’t have to be used again… at least not towards Earth.” he told her. She could only nod back. At least everyone’s okay, she thought. She decided against starting to work on the system or even trying to restore some of the power; the longer she stood in the room with him, the more upset she got. She could be of some assistance down on Earth, she knew it. However, yet again, she had been left behind. He had tried to assure her that it was for the best and if he had felt that way, Tabitha tried to tell herself, then maybe there really was a good reason for her not to be down there. The only thing she could do was wait until the power came back on; then she would worry about attempting an upgrade on the system.

“If it’s okay with you, think I’m gonna head back to my room…”

“That’s fine.” he told her, feeling even guiltier that she had already turned to leave before he responded. He knew that she was upset with him without even going through her mind. She had every right to be; he didn’t want to send her down to help the others. If she found out that he even manipulated her mind to sleep through the alarm, it was a high possibility that she would never speak to him again.

She jumped slightly as the power came back on an hour later. She wanted to go back to sleep, to at least pass the time quickly. However, her mind wouldn’t let her. It kept trying to think of why she wasn’t down there helping… and how she could’ve slept through the blaring alarm; someone knocking on her door was enough to startle her out of the deepest of sleeps: how was it that a blaring alarm had come and gone and she was none the wisest?

An hour was enough time for her to collect her thoughts about how she was being treated. She appreciated everything that the League had done for her, especially J’onn and Bruce. However, if she wasn’t allowed to go on missions even after a year of living there, what good was she really? She might as well be one of the civilian workers, she fumed. She had to grow a backbone, she decided as she hopped out of bed; she had to tell the Martian how she really felt about everything.

She tracked him down in one of the recreation rooms. He couldn’t explain it; he didn’t want to be in the control room nor did he want to go to his room. He actually wanted to see if Tabitha was fine but wanted her to calm down before he did. At first, he was glad to look in her light brown eyes until he felt that she was still upset. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“I need to talk to you… about a lot of stuff…”

“I’m always here to listen…” he had a feeling where the conversation was going. She looked at him finally, her eyes moistened slightly.

“”Why won’t you let me go on missions? Well, big ones, anyway! What; you don’t trust that I can handle myself out in the field? That I need a babysitter every time I leave here?”

“It’s not that, Tabitha…”

“So, what is it? You think I do a better job doing upgrades up here? Cuz, let me tell you; if I wanted to be a technician, I would’ve stayed in Gotham! I’ve been here for a year and I got nothing to show for it!”

“That isn’t true; you’ve improved a lot…”

“Yeah, on my rage; I know that! And maybe it doesn’t mean much to some folks about going on missions, **real** missions. But, it does to me! You know what gets to me? Look around, J’onn; everyone is gone… **everyone**! But, I’m still here! And I **know** you had a hand in making me sleep through that alarm; a fucking ant walking across carpet wakes me up!” she couldn’t stop the couple of tears escaping from her eyes; she was really hurt when she realized that he resorted to using his ability in order to keep her from joining the mission. Did he not understand that even if she disagreed with him, he was a founding member: whatever order he gave her, she would have no choice but to obey it? All he had to do was simply tell her, as always that she would not join the others on the mission.

He was surprised at her outburst as well as her tears. He knew that she was prone to using profanity… a lot but she tried to refrain from using it in front of him out of respect. This explosion of hers showed him just how upset she really was; it was giving him no choice but to let her know how he really felt.

“Tabitha…” he tried but she shook her head, angrily wiping at the tears.

“… I’m sorry. Guess I said too much. Maybe I just need to turn in my communicator and…”

“Wait!” he grabbed her by the arms as she tried to leave. She looked at him, shocked that he would touch her, that he would want her to stay. More tears forced their way out of her eyes, “I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t want to use my ability on you but… I simply couldn’t let you go on this mission.” he admitted. It was really all she wanted. The rest of the times, he had never given out an explanation as to why she was left to stay aboard while the others left; he just simply told her that she wasn’t going and that was the end of the conversation. It still made her wonder why he didn’t want her to go, especially on this one.

“W-why not? I can handle myself, regardless of what you think!” she cried. He had enough; it was either have her highly upset with him for the rest of her life or tell her the truth.

“I just… I don’t want anything to happen to you!” for the first time since meeting the Martian, she saw his emotion come out. Her heart thumped hard through her chest at his words.

“W-what…?” she blinked at him. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Her body stiffened and melted simultaneously as he gently wiped at her tears.

“I had a family once. A wife and a daughter. I… lost them and couldn’t do anything about it. I never wanted to experience that ever again. I refuse… I refuse to lose you the same way… I don’t want anything to happen to you that I’m unable to stop. This is why I’ve held you back from a lot of missions.” he fully explained. He wanted badly to go through her mind, to know what she was thinking at that moment; she had fallen into a shocked silence at his words. If anything, she felt foolish for her outburst as well as the tears and wanted to simply leave. However, the Martian had a firm grip on her arms and wasn’t letting her go, let alone even look away. He held her gaze, “I apologize for making you upset with me. I never want you to feel that way towards me… ever again.” he finished explaining. More tears fell from her eyes; she knew that this was his way of pouring his heart out to her. He had kept his emotions at bay for so long that it was almost like a new feeling for him; he had no real idea on how to act. She was relieved that the feelings she tried to push aside for the Martian for a whole year were not in vain; they both felt the same about each other.

“J-J’onn…” was the only thing that escaped her mouth. He saw that she wasn’t going to fight him, that she was no longer upset with him and let out a small sigh as he cupped her face. Although she now felt her heart beat in her throat, she slowly leaned towards him. Warmth traveled throughout her entire body when he did the same and without warning, placed his lips softly on hers.

As the others were transported back to Watchtower, Bruce made the decision to go ahead and tell Tabitha how he really felt. He had made up his mind while he was on his way to Ray Palmer’s lab, actually; the scientist was able to infiltrate the mother ship and took down the nanobots’ control from the inside. He pushed the success of the mission aside for the moment; he also was going to fully voice his opinion to J’onn about his hindering Tabitha’s experience. He knew that it was risky however he knew that he was only one of the very rare few that was able to crudely talk to the Martian without any repercussion.

His keen perception made him abruptly stop as he made his way past one of the recreation rooms. He went back to see what exactly had caught his eye… and couldn’t help standing there, watching with an almost broken heart. There was the lightning woman and the Martian… tightly embraced with each other. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes, a somewhat flustered look on her face as she let the Martian kiss her. Bruce quickly left so that the two could have their moment. So that’s why he didn’t want her on missions, he sadly realized. He wanted her out of harm’s way… because he truly cared for her. The Manhunter from Mars was in love with the human woman… and had beaten the caped crusader in letting her know. Bruce could do nothing but carry himself back to the teleportation pads, wondering if falling in love was ever meant for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I know: J'onn's addiction was actually to Chocos but they're really just a generic brand of Oreos; DC didn't want to be sued for product placement! As far as the mission, it was taken from the Justice League Unlimited episode Dark Heart.*


	15. Elements

“Tabitha… you got a minute?” John asked as he entered the recreation room. She looked up from her movie and slightly smiled.

“Sure. What’s up?” she asked. He looked at what she was watching and smirked.

“You like black and white movies?”

“I **love** black and white movies! Actually… I love movies, period. Everything’s so simple in ‘em…”

“So… you’d rather believe in the unrealistic guy goes after girl, guy always gets the girl stuff?”

“Don’t forget that he’s always the hero as well!” she winked at him. It provoked a small laugh and a shake of the head from John.

“I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing a bit of training.” he informed her when he calmed down. She gave him a look.

“What type of training?”

“There’s a young man who has similar powers to yours. I want you to meet him.”

“Oh… you want me to train **him**! I don’t know… can’t say that I’m a good teacher.”

“Just tell him everything that you know.” he assured her. She thought about the idea and nodded. If it would benefit someone who was in her shoes four years ago, she was willing to help the guy out as much as she could.

Tabitha and John transported themselves to Dakota City, a place located near the border of Indiana and Ohio. The two were immediately greeted by Virgil Hawkins in full gear as Static. His blue with a yellow inside hooded coat flowed in the slight wind, revealing a white shirt with what looked like a black lightning bolt encased in a black circle. There was a broad yellow stripe on the left sleeve a couple of inches above his bicep and the blue sleeves came to large white cuffs that accentuated his grey and black gloves. Even wearing a white mask, Tabitha could see that the guy was actually a teenager. His jet black dreads were much shorter than her best friend’s; while hers were easily down her back, his barely covered his nape. She wondered at first the purpose behind the yellow goggles that sat on top of his head but she figured that they were there to keep his dreads out of his face. The rest of his outfit was simple: black pants and boots that matched his gloves.

He approached the two with a smile on his face, his brown eyes almost shone as he looked at Tabitha. That told her that he knew who she was.

“GL. Always good to see you.” he decided not to address her.

“I was wondering if you had a bit of free time for a little training.” John simply asked. Virgil switched glances from John to Tabitha.

“With Batman’s sidekick? Wow…”

“Guess you know who I am…” she winked at him.

“You’ve been missing from Gotham for a while.”

“Eh; been stuck on Watchtower.”

“You’re finally in the Justice League?” his eyes slightly widened. She could tell that there was a hint of jealousy; the kid must had always wanted to be a part of the faction. She kept her smile and nodded.

“”But, I’m fairly new. I don’t know what… GL had in mind as far as training goes so let’s just play this by ear!”

The two were led to what Virgil called the “Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude” (he smiled wider as Tabitha almost giggled uncontrollably at the name); a hideout for himself and his best friend/sidekick Richie Foley. Once inside, she felt more comfortable taking her mask off and listened to how Virgil and a handful of Dakota citizens came to be. She frowned at first when he mentioned his almost involvement with gang members but slightly understood; he was being “helped” trying to take care of an actual bully (she found it ironic that the bully was a member of an opposing gang). The potential gang fight between the two gangs by the docks were interrupted by the police and during the conflict, a shot was fired, releasing a deadly gas in the area; the accident was dubbed the Big Bang. A lot of people were killed from the exposure to the gas; it was designed as a deadly alternative to tear gas. The ones who did survive were forever mutated. After his story, she kindly shared a bit of her own.

“Wow! So, you’re going to teach Static some moves?” Richie asked. His eyes almost mesmerized her, being entirely black; they didn’t really matched his short blond hair. Tabitha smirked and shrugged.

“Not much to teach him, really. If anything, he’s better than me! I only have the basic powers of lightning. I want to learn what **he** has!” she smiled at Virgil.

“You’re upgrading Watchtower and I’m better? Maybe… we could learn from each other.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” she winked. Tabitha was about to say something else until she saw in the corner of her eye two people walking in. She immediately jumped to her feet and started to charge up but both Virgil and John stepped in front of her.

“Sorry; forgot to tell you that there are others who know about the hideout! They’re Bang Babies, too.” Virgil explained. She stopped charging up and looked at the two. They didn’t have on any special outfits of any kind and Tabitha concluded that they were there to just visit. A man and a woman; the man was a few inches taller than the woman, able to look almost eye-to-eye with Tabitha. He was slim and almost the same shade as Tabitha, with light chocolate eyes and dark brown hair cut very short. His facial features seemed familiar but Tabitha pushed that to the side as she went to study the woman. She was a bit shorter and full figured, her dark brown hair flowed as long as Tabitha’s own shoulder-length locks. She had some distinctive Hispanic features in her face and her eyes were a hazel-green mixture, almost like a cat’s.

“Bang Babies…?”

“It’s what the people who were affected by the gas are called.” Richie explained to Tabitha. She nodded as the two approached her.

“Blaze…” the guy introduced himself, sticking his hand out, “Hey, I know you. You’re… Batman’s sidekick; that lightning woman!” he smiled. She slightly blushed and shook his hand.

“Does **everyone** know about me around here?!”

“It’s not every day Batman gets a sidekick, let alone someone who’s similar to Static! I’m Reign.” the woman introduced herself. Tabitha tilted her head slightly and smiled.

“Blaze and Reign. Let me guess: your powers are fire and water…”

“Close enough. We like to call them Benders; they can manipulate water and fire elements.” Virgil explained. Almost on cue, Reign lifted her hands, focusing on a nearby cup. As her hands moved, so did the water in the cup. She made it swirl into loops around the area and finally froze it in its place. A second later, she made it liquid yet again and go back in the cup. Before Tabitha could be amazed that not a single drop of water was on the ground, Blaze took a meditative stance and immediately created a fire cyclone around himself. In the same manner that Reign had moved her hands, he manipulated the fire away from him and in the air above them, making it spell out his name. With a blink of an eye, the fire dissipated, leaving the lightning woman to gawk at the two.

“Whoa! That was… fucking amazing!”

“Not bad, huh?” Blaze smiled. She was about to return the smile until she studied his. She had seen him somewhere before, the thought rang in her head. Tabitha tried to think of exactly where and immediately thought of the pictures that were all around her best friend’s house.

“Blaze… you look so much like this guy in a picture my friend has. Do you know Jamila Lindsey?” she decided to simply ask. Both Blaze and Reign’s eyes widened a bit at the mention of the professor’s name.

“How… how do you know my sister?” he confirmed. It put a smile on her face; the professor had talked so much about the brother that was shown in the various pictures around the home: she never asked where he was. Studying him more, she realized that she should’ve known sooner; he had the same nose as Jamila, even the same shaped eyes and smile.

“She took me in a while back. She’s… my best friend, now. Does… she know where you’re at?”

“No. She doesn’t even know that I’m married or that we’re Bang Babies…”

“Wait… you two are married?!” her eyes widened. The two laughed a little.

“I know, I know; fire and water don’t mix! We’re an odd couple; kinda found it funny and ironic when we learned about our powers!” Reign laughed.

“How is she? My sister?”

“She’s good. How long has it been since you’ve seen her?”

“It’s been a few years. I try to talk to her every week but after the Big Bang… I just never could call her.” Blaze explained. Tabitha nodded.

“I know how you feel. Took me four years to finally face my family. But I tell you what; it felt really good to see ‘em and talk to ‘em again. She’d understand… trust me…”

* * *

She came back from Dakota feeling important. While she and Static didn’t do much training, they learned more about each other’s abilities. Tabitha was amazed at his electromagnetic powers and was determined to learn them. She didn’t know how she would go about doing so but she knew that a talk with the professor could lead her somewhere.

Ramil and Ashley Jones, better known as Blaze and Reign; after talking to Tabitha, the two agreed to go and visit the professor. To make them feel better, just as J’onn and Jamila did, Tabitha went with them (it was also another excuse to go visit her best friend). Not a dry eye was in sight as the brother and sister were reunited with one another. The professor understood what happened to her younger brother and his wife and was actually just as amazed as Tabitha had been by their powers. As much as she knew that her brother and his wife wanted to help Virgil out in Dakota, she was pleased to hear that the two planned on moving in with her.

She couldn’t help talking about everything that happened with J’onn when she returned to Watchtower. He simply smiled as he listened to her enthusiastic banter, knowing that her attention was not on their long awaited “rematch”; he felt that the chess match was just an excuse for the two to seem to have a normal conversation.

“I am very happy to hear that things worked out for the best. I take it that there was no training sessions with Virgil?”

“Kinda. Honestly? I didn’t know what to teach the kid. He’s better than me, much better; and don’t tell me that I don’t give myself no credit!” she smiled at him. He crossed his arms and smirked at her.

“What did you think about him, overall?”

“He’s a special guy. I mean, he’s still a kid but… he makes the right decisions for the most part. I really like his powers…”

“Of course…” J’onn fought laughter. Tabitha sighed and made her move.

“I need to study up on electromagnetism.”

“… I could teach you.” his comment made her look up at him.

“You could…?”

“Yes. Well, it’s more like downloading information into your mind. I did it for Bruce so he was able to fly Martian aircraft.” he explained. She leaned back in her chair and slightly smiled.

“You know… after all this time, I don’t know much about you. What **are** your powers?”

“I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging…” he slightly smiled, which made her laugh.

“Is it safe to say that you can do everything?”

“I wouldn’t say that. As you know, my main ability is telepathy. I could demonstrate the majority of my abilities but not all.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“I refuse to do a complete mind wipe, for one…”

“… Oh. So, pretty much, you can make the mind do whatever the hell you want it to do…”

“Yes… except for the insane.”

“So, let’s see: you can shape shift, mess with the mind, fly… pretty sure you got superhuman strength and hearing…” she started to count on her fingers.

“I will make sure to give you a demonstration soon…” he gave her a coy smile, “By the way, would you like for me to download the electromagnetism information into your mind?”

“Oh… no; that’s okay…”

“I wouldn’t mind…”

“I don’t wanna take the easy way out. It’s tempting, though… like something else…” she gave him a smile. He returned her smile, leaned in towards her and gave her a quick kiss which made her let out a quick sigh, “We’re still not letting anyone know about us?”

“Not right now. I don’t feel that anyone would be ready to face that now. Let’s give it time.”

* * *

Bruce was glad that he found her in one of her usual spots watching TV in the main recreation room. He knew that when she wasn’t doing any upgrades, she was watching a movie of some sort. There wasn’t a genre that she avoided when it came to movies and television; she enjoyed anything from comedy to horror.

She didn’t see him walk in, she was too engulfed into the movie, curled up slightly with a bag of popcorn in her lap. Even as she giggled and nearly choked on a piece of kernel, he still found her attractive. The thought only made him frown, as he remembered that she was taken. She finally noticed him, turned and smiled up at him.

“Hey; haven’t seen you in a while. Gotham got you busy?” she causally asked. He shrugged.

“You could say that.” he didn’t lie. The villains took notice that Nikki was no longer around and started to come out stronger than ever. He knew that it would be as simple as enlisting her help every now and then however he knew that the Martian probably didn’t like her out of his sight now that the two was dating. Bruce wanted to make it known that he had knew, that he had seen the two share a kiss but thought against it, “Glad I found you here. I need to know if you’re planning on keeping the apartment in town.” he wanted to know sincerely.

“Oh! Damn; completely forgot about it! My bad… renting it out to someone else?”

“A few people are interested so the landlord has told me. Think you have time to clean it out soon?”

“Yeah, I can clean it out now, actually.” she said, getting up.

“Only if you’re not going to keep it; I don’t want to pressure you or…”

“It’s okay; this is my home, now. _I have to go to Gotham to clean out my old apartment; is that okay_?” she sent her boyfriend the message.

“ _That is fine. You don’t need my permission to go to Earth. If you need any help, however, just let me know…_ ”

“Need any help?” she had to laugh aloud that both thought she would need help, “What?”

“You forgot who you’re talking to; I ain’t no regular woman!”

“I know this!” Bruce said, almost dejectedly but eventually laughed along with her.

“Seriously; thanks but I got it. _That goes to you, too._ It shouldn’t take me but half the day to clean it and be done.” she kept her smile.

Her plan was to indeed get as much done before dark. She figured that it wouldn’t be a problem with the size of the apartment and how much little stuff she had in it as it was. All of the furniture came with the place so she was grateful that she didn’t have to deal with hauling it out. The only thing she really needed to do was get her belongings and clean.

Walking inside the apartment brought back a few memories, mainly those that involved Ethan Bennett. She tried to concentrate on all of the good memories which she admitted that there was really only one bad one. She sighed and looked around the apartment, making mental notes of what she needed to do. She decided to start in the simplest room first: the bedroom. She took her communicator out of her ear and clipped it to the side of her jeans pocket, replacing it with the earphones attached to her iPod; if J’onn wanted to reach her, he would have to use his telepathy.

It only took her thirty minutes to pack the rest of her clothes and belongings, clean up the bedroom and the bathroom before she danced out and into the living room. Seeing J’onn simply standing in the middle of the room startled her but made her smile. She took her earphones off and approached him.

“Holy shit, you scared me! Thought I told you that I’d let you know if I needed…” she was cut off when he embraced her and gave her a kiss. She was a bit surprised at his forwardness… as well as his roughness but figured that was due to how seldom they had moments like that. She smiled at first, about to kiss him back but suddenly knew that something was wrong. What they were doing… didn’t feel right. For one, she knew that he would have told her if he was coming down to help; he was not the one for spontaneity. Another thing that was bothering her was that… he was being rough with her. She immediately pulled away from the kiss and pushed him away, “… you’re not J’onn…” she realized. The accused imposter just smiled at her and transformed. His once humanoid head became elongated and sharp, his whole body became slender. His smile revealed sharp, almost monstrous teeth.

“Not bad for a human. I knew that you were pretty close to my brother; his stench is on you…” he growled. She was taken aback by numerous things, his words being one.

“… Brother…?” she mused. She knew that she didn’t know much about the Martian but she would have figured that he having a sibling would’ve been the first thing she would’ve found out. He grabbed her by the back of her head and yanked her towards him.

“Where is he? Take me to him!” he snarled at her. She had no time to dwell on J’onn not telling her a few things as she slightly smiled at his brother.

“ _You’re out your damn mind if you think I’m a tell you anything_!” she thought. However, she saw that something wasn’t right. He continued to glare at her with his menacing red eyes and eventually jerked her towards him.

“What are you smiling about, human?! Tell me where he is!” he demanded. It was enough to make her come to her senses; she was going to have to defend herself. She charged up and shocked him, making him let go of her abruptly. She released enough energy to just startle him; she knew that she would have to release a higher voltage to keep him away from her. Just as she was about to do so, he grabbed her and flung her across the room. She crashed into the wall hard, nearly going through it and landing in the bedroom. As the Martian stalked her, she shook off her pain and did an immediate Lightning Cloud, appearing right behind him. She tried for a lightning-charged punch but he became transparent, sending her stumbling forward. She quickly looked around and realized in anger that he was invisible.

“Son-of-a-bitch…” she mumbled. Was this some sort of test, she asked herself. She quickly shook her head and tried to think of how to lure him back to visibility. No; J’onn wouldn’t do something this extreme to test her out, she answered herself. The only thing she came up with was to fill the entire room with lightning, scarring the walls and everything else in the living room. It made her growl out her frustrations when she saw that the move was in vain. The brother of J’onn proved that he had the same abilities… minus one, “What the hell do you want from me? Show yourself, you fucking coward!” she yelled and tried her attack once more.

“Such language and useless threats from a human woman…” he teased. A hard blow to the back of her head made her fall to the ground. She was suddenly lifted up by her throat and the Martian came into view in front of her, “For him to have fallen for you just shows his stupidity… or his sympathy for daft pests…” he emphasized the last word, squeezing around her neck harder, “Give me J’onn J’onzz, human! Make him come to you; I want to prove to him who is indeed the better Martian!”

“C-Call me… what you want… but… J’onn ain’t stupid…” she tried, “B-Better? You ain’t… better. Y-You can’t… even… read… minds…” she had no idea what possessed her to taunt the Martian; all she knew was that he had to hear it from her mouth. Her words made him snarl and slam her into another wall. His appearance changed yet again and it made her widen her eyes in terror. His facial features turned ghoulish, his red eyes glowing. He bared his teeth at her, which became even more sharp and elongated. She would’ve gasped had the monstrous Martian not had a tight grip around her throat. He laughed at the fear in her eyes.

“What happen to your words, human? Has J’onn never showed you his true form?!” he relished in the fact that she was too terrified to even produce her lightning, let alone speak once more. He knew that it didn’t matter if she told him where his brother was; killing her was definitely a sure way to bring J’onn out.

“Tabitha…” J’onn’s voice seemed to echo throughout the room. When his brother’s attention went towards her jeans pocket, she knew that it wasn’t just in her head. He located the communicator, snatching it from her side. His gruesome smile widened and a vile cackle erupted from his throat as he pressed the communicator.

“Why, hello brother…”

Bruce noticed that the Martian was frozen in place; had he been human, he would’ve been pale.

“What? What is it?”

“… Ma’alefa’ak…” was the only word he could mutter. It was enough to make Bruce’s eyes widen. The Martian had told the founding members the story of how his race was destroyed; his twin brother produced a virus that spread whenever anyone used their telepathy, engulfing the user in flames. When J’onn was transported accidently to Earth, he had figured that his brother had moved on to another planet, thinking that he was dead as well.

“Your brother? He’s alive? He… has Tabitha…” it angered and panicked Bruce at the same time.

“What have you done to…”

“Don’t worry; your pathetic human bug is alive… for now. It’s been far too long, my brother. I have a gift for you.” Ma’alefa’ak actually laughed as he pulled out a vial. He glared at Tabitha, holding the container inches away from her face, “Although… maybe **she** would appreciate it more than yourself! Tell me… have you wondered how the H’ronmeer’s Curse would affect a human…?”

“N-No! This doesn’t concern her! It’s me you want… not her!” his panicked voice only made his twin laugh.

“Then, find the human and come to me before it’s too late!” Ma’alefa’ak responded and ended transmission.

The two looked up at the apartment building and then slightly at each other.

“You sure this is it?” Ashley asked her husband. He took a map out, switching glances between it and the building.

“Yeah. We should be in the Financial District. The address is right…”

“No offense to her but… this looks too high priced for her…”

“Guess that’s why she’s moving…” Ramil said and the two snorted. They wanted to pay a visit with Tabitha but was told that she was in Gotham at the moment. The married couple never showed their gratitude for reuniting them with the professor and wanted to do so. As they approached her door, they thought nothing of it being slightly open; they knew that she was packing. However as Ashley pushed the door open wider, the two was caught by surprise at the sight in front of them; a green monster had the lightning woman pinned to the wall by her throat. Its grip was so tight, she could barely cough. A mix of relief and panic swept on her face when she put her eyes on the two. Ma’alefa’ak noticed and turned to see what had grabbed her attention but it was too late. Ashley saw a bucket on the floor and hoped that it was filled with water when she quickly raised her hands. She smiled as the water appeared and immediately threw it at the beast, turning it into a thin stinging whip. He dropped Tabitha and drew his attention towards the couple but before he could make a move, Ashley drew more water from the bucket and made it form a bubble around the Martian. Focusing hard, she made the water bubble form to ice, freezing the beast. Ramil immediately went to Tabitha’s aide as she coughed to catch her breath. She looked up wearily at the two.

“Ramil… Ashley…” she smiled.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“You okay?” Ashley asked the woman. She slowly nodded. As she started to glare at the Martian in the ice bubble, she saw J’onn appear at the door.

“J’onn…” she smiled out of relief. The cracking sound from the bubble made everyone stand still in their spots. Before they could blink, the bubble exploded, sending ice shards flying throughout the apartment. Transformed back to his first form, Ma’alefa’ak smiled at J’onn.

“Just as weak-hearted like the rest of your kind; did you come to save your human, J’onn? You should’ve died a long time ago however… I will enjoy watching you die in person…” he snarled and reached for something. The vial, Tabitha realized. She had no idea what it was but she knew that if it came into contact with J’onn, the effects would probably be deadly. She was glad that she saw it on the ground by Ma’alefa’ak’s feet and immediately picked it up, backing away from him.

“Looks like someone dropped something…” she taunted, drawing both Martians’ attention. Ma’alefa’ak growled at her and started towards her.

“Tabitha, no!”

“You incompetent human insect…” Ma’alefa’ak took a step towards her. However, she noticed that he simply stood in place, as if he was frozen. The only thing that moved were his gleaming, confused red eyes, “What’s… happening to me…” he wondered aloud. Tabitha shot a look over at J’onn but he shook his head. It was then that she noticed Ashley behind Ma’alefa’ak, a hand out as if she was controlling a force field between the Martian and Tabitha. When she extended her left arm out, Tabitha was amused that Ma’alefa’ak did the same.

“What… the fuck…” she couldn’t help it; her reaction only made Ashley smile.

“Who’s incompetent now? Give him the bottle, Tabitha.” she kept her smile and opened her hand. Tabitha continued to look as Ma’alefa’ak copied the move and a smile finally crept on her own face. She did as she was told and Ashley closed her hand slightly. With a quick clench of her fist, the vial burst in the Martian’s hand, blue liquid oozing out.

“No!!” he yelled out in anger. A streak of lightning hit his arm, making him yell out again as Tabitha glared at him.

“Told you… you ain’t better…” she said. Before J’onn could move, Ramil produced a large fireball. Tabitha noticed that J’onn did everything but physically run away from the young man as he threw the fireball at Ma’alefa’ak, turning it into a spiraling wave of fire. As it engulfed the Martian and his body started to melt into a large puddle of bubbling green liquid, Tabitha realized what J’onn’s other weakness was. As the fire and the green ooze that was once a Martian dissipated, J’onn immediately went to Tabitha’s side, hugging her tight and looking her over.

“Are you okay?” he asked sincerely. She was about to nod but took everything in perspective as to what happened.

“No; you got a lot of explaining to do!” she put her attention towards Ashley, “You, too; how the hell did you do what you did?!” she asked. Ashley smiled slightly.

“I call it blood bending. I can control anything liquid, not just water; blood is liquid.” she explained. J’onn looked at her.

“That is a very powerful ability…”

“I know… and I try not to use it unless it’s necessary… but seeing that Miss ‘Smart Ass’ was taunting him…”

“He called me daft! I don’t even know what the hell that means but I know it wasn’t a compliment!”

“Uh… you know what; never mind…” Ashley tried to keep her laughter in.

As soon as the two were safely in her room on Watchtower, J’onn embraced her and kissed her on the forehead.

“I am so relieved that you’re safe…”

“… You still got a lot of explaining to do…”

“I know.” he led her to the edge of the bed where they both sat down, “Yes; Ma’alefa’ak was my twin brother. By Martian standards, twins are uncommon so the two of us were unique from the start. However, he was born a mutant.”

“So, it’s just him that can’t read minds…”

“Correct. He was able to do any and everything else. A Martian’s telepathic mind is almost as important as breathing, itself; it is just that second nature. A Martian who can’t use telepathy is a true outcast… and my brother was the only one…”

“Wow… must’ve really sucked…” she mumbled. J’onn nodded.

“As we grew older, he started to resent the others. He didn’t take too kindly to being shunned; he created a virus that affected anyone who used their telepathy. It was… highly contagious…” he painfully remembered. She could only stare at him and wrap her arms around him, holding him as tight as she could. She then remembered the small conversation they had when he confessed his attraction to her; how he had lost his wife and child and couldn’t stop it.

“Oh, J’onn… your family…”

“How I was the only one out of our entire race strong enough to not use telepathy haunts me still.”

“I’m so sorry…” her eyes misted over. He took notice and gently wiped at them, “That stuff in the vial… that was the virus?” she asked. He slowly nodded, “You think it would’ve… killed me…”

“I have no idea… but I didn’t want to risk it. Tabitha… there was no way I was going to let him… or anyone else take you away from me.” he stressed. It warmed her that she meant that much to him and easily accepted his kiss. As the kiss got deeper, the Martian laid her on the bed. Her thoughts about what happened between herself and his twin brother started to disappear as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She no longer thought about the questions she wanted to ask him, learning more about the family he once had; her thoughts turned to a different subject as she actually felt the mood change suddenly. Her heart started to pound heavily as she noticed that his hands were on her waist, his cool lips traveled from her lips to her neck. She was on the verge of hyperventilating upon realizing the inevitable.

He couldn’t help that his passion for her had released so suddenly; that particular urge had been locked away for so long. Something stopped him however, as he felt her heart rate quicken, her trying to catch her breath. He looked up at her and saw something in her eyes: nervousness. It confused him at first; he was used to her being slightly awkward in his presence however that was when they were first getting used to each other. Once it dawned on him, the Martian couldn’t help but to slightly smile… as well as show a bit of surprise.

“Tabitha… are you… inexperienced…?” his question made her extremely flustered.

“You putting it **that** way makes me feel better about it…”

“How is this even possible?” he didn’t mean to offend her. However, he did as her eyes widened at him.

“Tryna say that I’m easy or something?!”

“N-No! It’s just that… your last relationship. Surely, you two…” he cut himself off as she turned away slightly, still blushing furiously.

“H-He… was fine waiting… until I was ready…” it embarrassed her to remember when Ethan had stumbled onto the fact as well.

“… I apologize for assuming… if it makes you feel better… I feel the same.” he started to lift off of her. J’onn J’onzz would have never guessed that Tabitha Lyght was a virgin, especially given her demeanor. He was told by Bruce that she had quickly jumped into the relationship with Ethan Bennett; he didn’t think that was how inexperienced women acted. He had to remind himself that not all humans acted the same… and that she was definitely a unique case.

Even as he attempted to get up, she kept her arms locked around his neck, her blush never leaving.

“J-J’onn…” it seemed as if it was the only thing that wanted to escape her mouth. He kept his red eyes on her, waiting on her to finish her sentence. He gave her a surprised look when she wouldn’t… but kept her embrace on him.

“Are you sure…?” he wanted to make sure. This was something not to take lightly and he wanted to make absolutely sure that she was indeed ready. She kept his gaze and nodded; she didn’t feel rushed and despite her nervousness she felt that she was ready: she had no doubt that she wanted to give herself to the Martian.

* * *

He looked over at her and slightly smiled.

“… W-Wow…” she breathed, making him lightly chuckle.

“My thoughts exactly… I hope I was gentle enough…”

“…… wow…”

“And I believe that answered the second question I had in mind!” he slightly laughed and gently laid on top of her. She surprised him with a loving kiss, making him smile even more. As they looked into each other’s eyes, she tried to think of what to say or even talk about. The obvious was how she had felt at that moment however she had a feeling that he already knew; she had no regrets.

“… I hope you know that… Ramil didn’t mean to kill your brother…” she knew that it was sudden as well as a bit weird but it was the only other thing she could think about; the events from earlier that day. It only made J’onn nod slightly.

“I understand completely. How was he to know our weakness?” he confirmed. She nodded.

“So you **were** afraid of the fire…”

“Only because I know what it can do. I will admit that I’ve adapted a slight tolerance against it; the potency Ramil used was enough to make me powerless.” he explained, “While we’re on the subject, I have to know; how did he appear to you?”

“… ‘He’…?”

“My brother…”

“Oh! He was… you. To the tee… until he kissed me…” it made her blush to admit it, “I knew then something wasn’t right…”

“How could you tell?” he was curious. She gave him a smile and a light kiss.

“No one has the same kiss as someone else. They can mimic you all they want. But your kiss? That’s something **no one** can copy!” she explained and it made him warm up to the fact. She couldn’t help thinking about it now that they were on the subject and glanced at him, “J’onn… what’s your true form?”

“Only the other founding members have seen my true form…” he slightly smiled but immediately transformed. She had expected to see the monstrous form that had her paralyzed with fear but was relieved that he had transformed into the figure his brother had at the beginning of their encounter, “Do you prefer for me to stay in this form?” she paid close attention to his mouth and noticed that he didn’t have the razor sharp teeth as well.

“It’s… it’s up to you…”

“You’re not afraid of my true form, are you?”

“It’s not that. You ain’t holding back are you?” her question puzzled him slightly.

“Of course not. Did my brother say otherwise? He… frightened you…” he realized when her eyes flashed with fear. She knew that if she said nothing, he would only go through her mind and find out; instead, she slowly nodded.

“I… I’ve never been scared like that before…” she admitted. She took a deep breath, trying to swallow back her fear as he transformed back to his human form, “He said that it was your true form…”

“What did he show you? How did he look?” he asked, seriously. Of course, the image replayed over and over in her head however she couldn’t move her lips to describe it. When she slightly trembled, he knew that she was too afraid to tell him and automatically went through her mind. He saw the entire fight and immediately held her tight when he saw the form that had her frozen in horror. He kissed her forehead lovingly, “I’m sorry…” he whispered. The Martian felt that he had no other choice; he didn’t want that image haunting her for the rest of her life… for as long as they were together. He knew that even though she now knew that it wasn’t a Martian’s true form, it wouldn’t stop her from thinking that he had the prospect of transforming to that form; J’onn used his ability and wiped the horrible image from her mind. The fear that was in her eyes suddenly disappeared and she looked at him with a slightly blank stare, half smirking.

“… Sorry for what?”

“That you had to go through that ordeal.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yes... I put a bit of water and fire-bending in there! And, yes, J'onn's weakness is really fire. Depending on which series of comics you read is depending on how weak it makes him. As of right now, I don't think new 52 gave him that weakness, unless you count the Injustice comics. One series (and I can't remember the name at the moment) made him turn into Fernus, pretty much a fire Martian; when he recovered, his fear and weakness to fire was no more.*
> 
> *Speaking of new 52, if you've noticed, I strayed away from it. At the time of writing this story, I was heavily against it because they replaced J'onn with Cyborg in the Justice League main 7. I've started reading the new Justice League of America where he's pretty much the leader... and I love it! Besides, this is based on the Justice League Unlimited version. Won't change anything in this story... but be on the lookout in the future...*


	16. Time After Time: The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Chapters 16 and 17 are actually one entire chapter; I decided to split them up for convenience!*

After the ordeal with J’onn’s twin brother, everything seemed to go on as normal to an extent. Tabitha knew that the Martian was now more wary of letting her leave Watchtower, especially if she was going by herself. If Ma’alefa’ak was capable of finding her, there was no telling who else would be able to do her harm (although to be fair, he was an exact copy of J’onn minus telepathic powers). It only made the Martian even more overprotective of his girlfriend, to the point where he debated on stepping down as Monitor and letting her take over; after a few months, she had been trained well enough to do so. He had never thought extensively who would ever replace him as Monitor when the time approached; all he knew was that whoever it was would be someone he trusted with his own life. He slowly realized that in order for him to do that, he would have deep feelings for that person. It was starting to be more complex as being overprotective: J’onn J’onzz loved Tabitha Lyght.

She couldn’t blame him for being overprotective of her; the one time she decided to be completely alone, she was attacked. She had to admit that the experience was quite frightening however, there was something else that was bothering her. She couldn’t help replaying the day over in her head ever so often; Ma’alefa’ak proved to be a force to reckon with. But, she knew that she would’ve at least continued to fight back; she wondered why she couldn’t remember the exact detail that made her stop fighting.

She found herself yet again thinking about it as Shayera took a seat across from her in the cafeteria. Tabitha finally figured out who the seventh founding member was: Shayera Hol, better known as Hawkgirl. She also found out the reason why it had taken her so long to find out; no one wanted to speak about Shayera’s betrayal to the League: she was actually tricked into choosing loyalty to her own people, the Thangarians instead of the Justice League. J’onn had told her all about the invasion as well as how close Shayera and Diana were; the betrayal had hurt her the most. Shayera had resigned from the League on her own before any judgment was passed. A chance battle with the zombie Solomon Grundy brought her back into the League however the damage had been; it was a slow process for everyone to trust her fully again.

“Deep in thought?” the hawk woman asked with a slight smile on her face, her green eyes shining. Tabitha returned the smile and shrugged.

“Kinda; sorry…”

“It’s okay. I can… sit somewhere else…”

“No; you can sit here. Why would I want you to leave?”

“Haven’t you heard what I did…?”

“In the past. It just shows that you’ve got some human in you; we make mistakes all the damn time! Don’t matter if you’re a superhero or not. Only thing that matters is if you learn from ‘em. Figure that you’re not all **that** bad if they let you come back!” she said. She knew that it was Shayera’s choice to leave and possibly return however she also saw that the founding six almost always voted on major decisions; her returning was more likely voted on.

“I think J’onn’s rubbing off on you…” Shayera said with a slight laugh. It was enough to make Tabitha slightly blush; if there was anything she knew about her boyfriend, it was his mannerisms.

“W-Well… after training me for over…”

“And you may be able to fool everyone else but… you’re not fooling me…” she surprised Tabitha. She was about to argue with her until Shayera leaned towards her, “I’ve seen you two when you thought no one else was watching so there’s no denying it. I’m just wondering why you’re trying to keep it a secret.” she said lowly. Tabitha sighed and looked down at her food.

“… I… could care less if everyone knew; not like I’m ashamed of him…”

“Hmm… definitely no reason to be…” Shayera commented. Tabitha was about to nod in agreement but gave her a look.

“What’s that supposed to mean…?”

“One: he’s Martian Manhunter. Two… he’s Martian Manhunter!” she pointed out. It made both women giggle; she had a valid point, Tabitha thought. At the mention of his name, almost everyone knew who he was and what he was capable of; not too many people had been bold enough to cross him: Tabitha knew that she had nothing to be ashamed of on that end! He had incredibly attractive traits, both physically and mentally; any species of woman would have to be either blind or a lesbian to not even glance his way! And, to make matters better, he was an exceptional lover, Tabitha thought with a coy smile. The very thought made her cheeks immediately ache.

“A-Anyway… he don’t think anyone would be ready to accept our relationship just yet…”

“… Really? I think it’s… cute. But… if he wants to keep it quiet... then I’m pretty sure it’s for a good reason. Don’t worry; your secret’s safe with me!” she winked and Tabitha laughed. Shayera opened her mouth to say something else until she looked at who was walking towards the table. Tabitha noticed the mood change as Shayera gathered her tray and stood, “Well, thank you for letting me talk to you. We should do it, again.” she left.

“Wait…” Tabitha tried. She watched, still confused even as Bruce and John sat down at her table. John’s sigh made her turn back and look at the two men, “Okay… what the hell did you two do to her? She was obviously just fine until you two walked in!” she asked the two. Bruce shook his head but looked at her.

“You mean, you don’t know?”

“I know that she betrayed the League but was welcome back. Wait… were you two the ones who voted against her coming back…?” she asked lowly.

“Wow… you really don’t know. Shayera and John use…”

“It’s none of her concern.” John quickly snapped and started eating his food. She gave him a confused look for a moment until she realized that Bruce was snickering. Her eyes suddenly widened at John and she shot a look at Bruce.

“Hold up… they used to date? Shut up!!”

“Go ahead; I don’t think Earth heard you…” John narrowed his eyes at her.

“So, you’re just working your way through the League, huh? Am I next…?” she couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. John seethed as Bruce joined her. His green eyes glared at the lightning woman.

“It was a long time ago…”

“Not that long ago…” Bruce loudly mumbled, making the woman snicker. John took his attention away from Tabitha and looked at Bruce.

“Anyway; why are we always talking about **my** love life; let’s talk about yours for a change!”

“You put yours out in the open; easy conversation starter…” Bruce smirked. He knew that his comment was meant for John however he noticed that Tabitha flinched slightly.

“What’s going on between you and Diana?”[1] John coolly asked. It was enough to make Bruce’s expression change and make Tabitha eye him with a big smile.

“Yeah; I wanna hear about you and Diana!”

“There’s nothing there; she’s simply a respected colleague.”[2]

“Uh huh…” John responded, making Tabitha snort out a laugh. Bruce sighed.

“I don’t have time to pursue a relationship. My work, my job is too important to allow for any distractions…”

“Oh? A relationship is a distraction?” Tabitha tried, taking a sip from her cup. Bruce smirked at her. He knew that it definitely was; falling in love in general was a distraction in a whole. He saw what it did to his fellow League members, especially the two who he was sitting with at the moment.

While Tabitha waited for his answer, she slightly looked up and saw Diana approaching the table, almost right behind Bruce. Her smile widened.

“To some people, yes. Relationships and falling in love are distractions. But, it’s nothing against her. Diana is a remarkable woman. She’s a valued friend. She’s…… standing right behind me, isn’t she?”[3] he noticed that Tabitha was fighting really hard to keep her laughter in.

“Don’t let that stop you; keep digging!”[4] Diana told him seductively as John and Tabitha laughed. She sat down besides Tabitha and slightly laughed, “I don’t really want to know what you three were talking about!”

“Good!” Tabitha stuffed her mouth with French fries.

“Do you ever eat anything that’s healthy for you…?” John asked Tabitha. She gave him a look and made a show of chewing her fries, bringing more laughter to the table. Her childish act was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a weird alarm throughout the room.

“Intruder alert?” Bruce asked no one in particular. It prompted the four to leave the room and make their way to the bridge and control room. On their way there, they all noticed that someone was in the armory.

“Think we found our intruder…” Tabitha pointed out. There was a thin man in what appeared to be a jumpsuit stealing Bruce’s utility belt, “Hey; you couldn’t wait ‘til **after** lunch to steal, ya thief!!” her voice startled him. Instead of dropping everything and simply fleeing, he simply looked at the four and put on goggles as a portal opened in front of him.

“Oh…” Diana’s eyes widened.

“What the hell…” Tabitha voiced her opinion. Bruce narrowed his eyes at the intruder as he went through and immediately followed him, “H-Hey; wait!” Tabitha yelled after the two. She knew that they had to make a decision quick as the portal started to close. The three followed their colleague through the portal, catching up to Bruce. John used the power of his green ring to form a protective bubble around the four.

“What is this?” Diana asked.

“Time traveling…”

“Why am I surprised that it exists?” Tabitha mumbled to herself.

“I have no idea where we’ll end up. Let’s just be on our toes when we do land.” John continued. They stayed silent as they waited out the ride through the wormhole. Moments later, they finally landed in the middle of what seemed to be a desert. Tabitha looked around along with the others.

“The west?” she asked no one in particular. There was no way to tell what time era they were in until a group of masked men on horses approached them.

“… Looks like the old west…” Bruce confirmed.

“Well, would you look at them fancy clothes!” one of the men noticed, aiming his gun at the four.

“Don’t look now but… I think we’re getting robbed…” Diana smirked at Tabitha.

“Shut your mouth, woman!” another man’s remark made both women raise their eyebrows at him. He nodded to one of his accomplices, “Take care of the women, first!” he continued to bark.

“You’re gonna pay for telling her to shut up…” Tabitha smirked at the three men who dismounted their horses. She concentrated and threw out four thin streaks of lightning towards the guns, knocking them out of their hands. She charged up as the men looked at her and shook her head slowly as they tried to flee, “ **Don’t** make me hit you…” she threatened.

“Well… that’ll be the last time they’ll underestimate a woman!” Diana thought aloud with a smile on her face. The other League members wasted no time in tying the would-be robbers. Bruce looked at their clothes.

“They’re right; we stick out with our outfits on.” he realized. He studied the four masked men, “Well… at least it’s four of them…” he noted. Tabitha switched glances from the robbers to Bruce.

“… We’re gonna take their clothes…?”

“We have no other choice. It’s not the most pleasurable idea but how else are we going to explore the town?” John stood by Bruce’s decision.

After taking the clothes and trying them on, the three founding members mounted their horses. Tabitha just looked at hers.

“Tabitha…?” Diana noticed.

“What’s the matter?” John asked. She slowly shook her head.

“I’ve… never ridden a horse before…” she admitted. Bruce smirked, getting off his horse and helping her mount hers.

“Don’t worry; it’s almost like riding a bike…” he assured, giving her the reins. She continued to look at her horse.

“… So… what if I told you I never rode a bike, either?” she asked seriously. The three members laughed.

“Impossible!” John laughed.

“You’re telling me that you can drive a car but can’t ride a bike?! Okay, okay…” Bruce gave in as Tabitha gave him a look, “I’ll ride beside you and we’ll go slow…” he decided. The four rode through the desert until they came upon a sign: Elkhorn. The four found a hitching post near the saloon. Tabitha lit up as she looked around.

“Oh! We should **definitely** hit up the saloon!”

“Why there?” Diana asked.

“Seriously?! You’ve never watched any westerns, have you?”

“Um, Tabitha…” Bruce tried.

“Everything always goes down at the saloon in the movies! The showdowns are agreed on in there…”

“I really don’t think it’s how it went in real life…” John tried to interrupt the woman.

“The bad guys **always** go in there… looking for information…” she eyed the men.

“We’re playing the bad guys, now?” Bruce smirked at her. She huffed but Diana nodded.

“It wouldn’t hurt to go in there first.” she shrugged and walked towards the saloon. The others followed suit and entered the building. A few pairs of eyes looked at the quartet for a moment but continued with whatever they were doing. John looked at Tabitha.

“Seen enough movies to know where to go from here…?” he lowly asked her. She smiled and nodded towards the bar.

“Bartenders know a lot…”

“Yes; let’s go ask him if he’s seen a time-traveling thief…” Bruce couldn’t help but to roll his eyes. Tabitha narrowed her eyes at him but her attention wandered towards one of the tables where a few men were gambling. Poker, she realized; had it not been for her best friend’s husband, she would have not known what they were playing.

She caught the game towards the end of the hand as one man called; another man sitting across from him smiled evilly and showed his hand: four kings with an ace. The other guy studied his hand and raised an eyebrow.

“Either you’re cheatin’ or we’ve been playing with a crooked deck…”[5] he smiled and showed off his four of a kind with aces. Tabitha quickly tapped Bruce on his arm, making him pay attention to the card game.

“Something ain’t right…” she whispered. Bruce studied both hands and slowly nodded. The caller’s aces had their symbols in the upper left and lower right corners while the other man’s ace was the opposite. The accused cheater stood up from the table and aimed his gun at the other man, “This won’t end well…” Tabitha murmured. She also noticed that the man standing wore a badge; he was the sheriff of the town.

“No one calls me a cheat! You’ll hang for that!”[6] the sheriff proclaimed. The other man raised his hands with a slight smirk.

“Now, wait a minute! Seems like a waste of a good sized pot; how ‘bout we split it and both walk away…?”[7] the card player asked. Bruce’s and Tabitha’s eyes widened as the sheriff’s pistol extended, exposing six extra barrels.

“How ‘bout I keep it all?”[8]

“… Sounds fair the way you explain it…”[9]

“Don’t think that gun’s from this period…”[10] Bruce noticed. Tabitha smirked slightly; the weapon wasn’t even from **their** century, she realized. The sheriff’s men immediately grabbed the man and the group left the saloon. Diana looked at the scene and then looked at the other League members.

“We have to help that man.”[11]

“I second that…” Tabitha backed Diana up.

“That’s not what we’re here for. Obviously, someone’s tampering with history; the stakes are much higher than the life of one card shark.”[12] Bruce stated calmly. Tabitha sighed at him.

“Information…” she almost sang out, “Did you not see that gun the sheriff had? He clearly has something to do with that weirdo thief!”

“It’s settled; we’ll break him out after sundown.”[13] Diana said. John snickered and looked at Bruce.

“Never argue with a woman…”[14]

* * *

They waited until sundown to approach the small jail. Talking to the bartender (and Bruce knew that Tabitha wouldn’t let him live it down because she was absolutely right), they learned that the cheating sheriff was Tobias Manning and the other gambler was Bartholomew Aloysius Lash, better known as Bat Lash. The only other thing that the bartender was willing to tell was that everything was normal in the town for the longest however something “changed” and Tobias was the new sheriff.

The four League members casually walked inside the jail. As a deputy got up from his seat, Tabitha flashed him a smile, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Excuse me but…” she finished her sentence with a small jolt, knocking the man unconscious. They went to the back where the cells were and spotted Bat Lash and an older man in one of the cells. Tabitha pointed at the older man.

“Heey… it’s him; it’s the thief!” she realized. Bruce approached the cell and glared at the thief. It was the man that they chased through the portal however he seemed much older.

“Who are you? And, where’s my belt?” he almost growled, making the man smile nervously.

“And, what happened to you? We’ve only been here for, what, half a day? You look… older…” Tabitha noticed. The man scoffed.

“Do you realize what you’ve caused by going through the time portal with me? I’ve been stuck here for twenty-two years!” he explained. Tabitha gave him a confused look and shook her head.

“I’m not even gonna **try** to figure that one out; I’ll just take your word for it!” her words made the man scoff louder.

“Anyway! That, that, that… **idiot** took my belt and has been going into the future, bringing weapons and other things back to this time!”

“Must be talking about the sheriff… which would explain the gun…” Bruce commented.

“And, how that weasel took over the town. Ran the real sheriff off with all those fancy weapons. Took over this town and it’s been…”

“Hell in a hand basket?” Tabitha finished for Bat Lash. He gave her a smile and a tip of his hat.

“Couldn’t have said it any better, myself! Bat Lash.” he introduced himself, “Now… any of you know how to get us outta here?” he kept his smile. Tabitha smiled back and gave a show of cracking her knuckles. Before she could do anything, Diana grabbed the cell door and pulled it off with ease.

“You’re with us.”[15] she said to Bat Lash.

“… That’s a healthy gal…”[16] Lash mused.

“Yeah… a heroic moment stealing gal!” Tabitha yelled at Diana. Bruce approached the thief.

“You’re coming with us, too. Once we get my belt back, I’m throwing you **back** in here!”

“B-But… what about…” the thief tried. Tabitha grabbed him by the shirt and charged up, making sure that he saw the electrical currents flowing around her clenched fist.

“Let’s try this again; who are you…?”

“D-D-David. David Clinton.”

“Good, David Clinton! Now, you listen and you listen good! Number one: I don’t wanna hear a peep outta you! Number two: you’re using that belt and sending us back to where we belong. And, number three: fuck up on rules one or two and I’ll shock you **back** to your time period! We clear?”

“… C-C-Crystal…”

“I like her…” Lash raised his eyebrows at Tabitha. Diana smiled.

“And, that’s her calm!”

As the group was making their way out of the jail, they were ambushed by Tobias and his men. The Justice League members prepared to fight the group until a trio of men joined them. They learned that the trio was with Lash: Jonah Hex, El Diablo and Ohiyesa Smith, the former sheriff of Elkhorn. Seeing that they were outnumbered, the new sheriff gave an order to retreat, riding back to their ranch. The League members and their new allies gave chase on their horses and were told the full story of how Manning came into power: the “change” was when David Clinton suddenly appeared and was quickly ambushed by Tobias and his men.

“Gonna need to be careful; there are some of the strangest things down at that ranch…”[17] Smith tried to warn the League members. Tabitha held in her laughter as John looked at him.

“Don’t worry; we got a lot of experie…” he was about to say until they all heard a screech from above. Looking up, they saw a pterodactyl flying towards them, “I’m sorry… what were you saying…?”[18]

“This has got to be the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen…” Tabitha’s eyes were fixated on the prehistoric bird coming near them. Diana immediately grabbed it by its neck and flung it away from the others. As it landed, its neck snapped in half, exposing wires and circuits, “Huh… a machine… yep; weirdest shit I’ve ever seen!”

As the group neared the ranch, they were greeted by other bizarre futuristic weapons. The League members jumped off of their horses and started attacking the various robotic dinosaurs, androids and military tanks.

“We’ll take care of this; the rest of you go after Tobias!” John ordered but looked at Tabitha. She nodded at him, hiding her smile and charged up, making quick work of the weapons. Before long, John was using the power of his ring to clear up the mess of mangled and malfunctioning robots and joined the others who were closing in on Tobias and his men. Tobias drew his weapon on the six but Tabitha smiled and shook her head.

“Let’s even this out!” she said and sent a small streak of lightning towards him, shocking the gun out of his hand. Ohiyesa approached him and punched him in the face. Before his men could retaliate, Tabitha charged up yet again, “I’ve been dying to shock someone… you really gonna test me…?” she asked. Defeated, they let Lash’s men take them into custody.

“I’ll say that’s a job well done. Now… to our little thief…” Bruce mentioned. Tabitha turned and saw that David was running inside of the ranch.

“Aw, fuck!” she yelled as the four League members went after him. Inside, Bruce found his utility belt while David grabbed his own belt, quickly activating it. Tabitha was about to shock him until she saw another portal open and David going through it. Just like before, they gave chase with John forming the protective bubble around them. Tabitha sighed and shook her head, “My bad… that was… my fault…”

“It’s okay. You had to fight alongside with us.” Bruce tried to comfort her.

“When this is all over, we’re going to have a talk with J’onn about your lack of experience…” Diana looked forward.

“No… I’ve gotten used to it; it’s no biggie…”

“You’re actually fine with staying on Watchtower all the time?” John eyed her. She shrugged.

“I’m more useful there than anywhere else…” she left it at that. She knew that the two had a point; they actually wanted to see her in action more. However, they didn’t know that there was a deeper reason for her not going on major missions; a reason that always made her smile.

Moments later, the group reached their destination and looked around. Tabitha and Bruce looked around for a moment and then looked at each other.

“Are we… back in the present…?”

“This is Gotham but… something’s different…” Bruce told Tabitha. Before they could say anything else, a group of fiendish clown-like villains confronted them. The League members readied themselves to fight.

“Five against four… not good odds but I’ll take ‘em!” Tabitha smiled, letting electricity flow over her body.

“Look, Dee; she has lightning powers like that Martian man!” one of the females in the group noticed. Tabitha gave her a confused look.

“Wha…” she was about to wonder until she saw a black figure come out of the sky. Others appeared and she studied the four, “Whoa… um… Batman? Someone’s taken your style… and made it better!” she half-smiled at the all-black outfitted Batman. Unlike the man he was emulating, this Batman’s face was completely covered with the black mask, white slits in place for his eyes and mouth. His Batman symbol was red as well and instead of a cape, he donned red wings. The others that were with him came into clear view as they stood beside the League members: a man in steel armor whose wings resembled Shayera’s, a much older Virgil and a Martian. His attire was completely different: a dark blue bodysuit instead of the simple blue trunks. The red straps remained however his massive blue cape was replaced with a flowing dark blue hooded cloak; Tabitha knew who it was, “… J’onn…?” she wanted to make sure; there was something about him that was a bit off to her.

He stared at her for a moment, just as the hawk man did at John. He removed the hood and his eyes lit up while the hawk man gave John a surprised look.

“… Mom…?” the Martian asked. Diana, Bruce and John looked at Tabitha with widened eyes.

“‘Mom’?!?!” they all reacted. She, on the other hand was absolutely speechless, staring in disbelief.

“Dad?” the hawk man continued to look at John. All of the attention left Tabitha and went straight to the Green Lantern who in turn was just as shocked and speechless as the lightning woman.

* * *

[1]-[18] Dialogue taken from Justice League Unlimited episode: The Once and Future Thing Part 1


	17. Time After Time: The Future

“Save the family reunion for later; we have work to do!” the older Virgil said and the new additions focused their attention on the villains. The others followed suit, seeing that they had the advantage in numbers. Tabitha went after the two females in the group, throwing her lightning at them. She was amazed when they split into two, making it four against one. They all threw their whips at her, sending a powerful voltage throughout her body. She collapsed in pain.

“Aw; she’s no fun! Let’s go play with the cute Green Lantern!” one of them said and left Tabitha there.

“…… Ouch!” she replied weakly. She gathered her senses and got back into the fight. She was amazed to see that even though they had one more than the villains, they were getting overwhelmed. What amazed her even more was as she went over to help the new Batman, she saw that her “son” was throwing lightning at the clown group, “He… he has my powers…?” she asked no one in particular.

“Looks like the Jokerz have advancements; there’s no way we’ll be able to beat them right now. Retreat!” the all black Batman informed the others.

“I’ll hold them off a bit; go ahead!” John told them as he formed a huge maze around the Jokerz. The others ran around the corner but was attacked but yet another group. Virgil sighed heavily.

“Just what we needed; the Linz trio! Let’s make this quick, then…” he was about to attack the three. Tabitha stepped between the two groups.

“Hold up! Linz…” she looked at the three dressed in black. Their faces weren’t covered, giving her a way to actually study the three, “… trips?!” she gave them a half smile. It was them alright, she knew for a fact. Solonia now looked like an even mixture of the professor and her husband while the boys… men, were mirror images of each other; there was no way to tell A.C. from Jamil but they both looked like their mother.

“… Miss Tabitha…?” Solonia mused. One of the young men approached her slowly, studying her face.

“It is her but she’s… younger…”

“Miss Tabitha!” she knew that it was Jamil when he immediately hugged her.

“Okay… what the hell is going on here?”

“We don’t have time for this!” the new Batman actually growled, “Let’s just take them prisoner and get out of here!”

The group took refuge at an old high school, Hamilton Hill High, where Virgil took the liberty of removing the black jumpsuits off the Lindsey triplets and handcuffed them to three chairs.

“Did you **have** to make us naked…?” Jamil asked. Tabitha wanted to snicker; his attitude hadn’t changed a bit.

“One, you’re not naked. Two, shut up before you get electrocuted!” the new Batman threatened. Someone approaching made Tabitha swing around and start charging up. When she saw that it was an old man, cane and all, she immediately stopped and looked at him. Her eyes widened.

“Holy… shit… Bruce?!” she switched glances between the young and old Bruce. The older one stared at her and a slow smile finally appeared.

“Tabitha…” he studied the others for a moment and approached his younger self. The younger Bruce could do nothing but look at him in awe, making the old man chuckle a bit, “Surprised to see me?”[1]

“A little. I’m more surprised I lived so long!”[2] the younger Bruce smirked. As Tabitha debated on who to talk to first, John approached the hawk man.

“You called me dad… who are you?”

“Obviously your son…” Tabitha mumbled, causing snickers from the women. John glared at her.

“I don’t think **you’re** in any authority to joke right about now…” he glanced at the Martian and then looked back at his own son.

“Rex Stewart, better known as Warhawk.”

“Who’s your mother?”

“Really?! You have **no** idea who his mom is?!” Tabitha couldn’t help herself, motioning at Rex’s retractable wings.

“I would say the same to you but I think it’s very obvious who his father is…” John nodded towards the Martian. Tabitha became flustered as the Martian approached her.

“What are you doing here?” his voice was a bit lighter than J’onn’s but she knew that he could very well change that as needed… just like his father.

“We followed a time-traveling thief here; David Clinton.” younger Bruce explained for Tabitha.

“Oh, you mean Lord Chronos. It makes sense, now. If you haven’t noticed, everything is jacked up around here because of him.” Virgil informed them.

“How far in the future have we traveled?” Diana asked. The older Bruce walked up to Tabitha and examined her.

“How long have you been in the League?” he asked her. She slightly shrugged.

“A couple of years…”

“Then, you’ve traveled about fifty years, give or take a year.” he told her. She stared at Virgil in shock.

“You’re looking damn good for a sixty year old, then! You all do…” she eyed the Lindsey triplets.

“The miracle of modern medicine; sixty-five is the new thirty.”[3] Virgil acknowledged. He turned to face the group, “Unfortunately… this is all that’s left of the Justice League. Warhawk, Terry; the new Batman and Martian Lyght.” he formally introduced.

“Wait… what do you mean, ‘this is all that’s left’? You saying…” it actually saddened Tabitha at the thought. Rex slowly nodded.

“When Lord Chronos took over, he launched a full-scale attack on the Justice League. There wasn’t anything anyone could do about it. A handful simply… left… but it was a very small handful that survived.”

“And those three didn’t help matters much…” Virgil piped in, pointing to the Lindsey triplets. Tabitha swung around and eyed them in half disgust/half amusement.

“What?! But… they don’t even have powers!” she noted. Virgil threw one of the jumpsuits to her.

“Technology’s changed a lot in fifty years, too. With enough money, you can buy super powers…” Solonia explained as Tabitha examined the suit. Very unnoticeable, there were wires running throughout the entire suit. Tabitha had a feeling that it was capable of giving the wearer any power they desired. Slightly angered, she approached the three.

“Why would you do this? Where’s your mom and dad? Do **they** know what you’ve been doing?!” she scolded. A.C. shot an evil look towards the remaining Justice League members.

“Ask **them** what happened to our parents!” he spat out. She looked at the others with a confused look.

“What…? What happened to…”

“ **They** killed them! And, no one did a damn thing to stop it! Why **should** we ‘play nice’ to them when they took the most important people in our lives?!” Jamil angrily yelled out. Tears formed in her eyes as Tabitha continued to eye the future members.

“N-No. Tell me you didn’t…” she tried. Her son approached her and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“They’re not willing to listen to us, especially not after the incident. The Justice League didn’t kill Aunt Doc and Uncle Albert…” a part of her wanted to giggle at his words.

“Don’t call them that; you have no fucking right to call them ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’!! Everyone had a hand in it; even that damn uncle of ours!!” Jamil raged.

“Tell me that he was one of the handful that…”

“Unfortunately; the coward left after everything went down…” Solonia huffed.

“… Take me to him…”

“Tabitha, we don’t have time for…” the younger Bruce tried.

“You guys do what you need to do; this is kinda important…” she freed the triplets and looked at them, “Take me to see Ramil.”

“I’m going with you, then.” her son volunteered. She looked up at him, the spitting image of his father except without the protruding beetle brow and the eyes; he had her whiskey brown eyes.

“Okay. I got some questions for you, too. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” she looked at the original Justice League members. She put her attention back to her son, “Pretty sure you can do Lightning Cloud…”

“Of course.” he assured as he grabbed the Lindsey men. Tabitha grabbed Solonia and the five left via Lightning Cloud. Within seconds, they were in the old Financial District, which almost laid in ruins. Tabitha shook her head at the sight of it all.

“Don’t let the looks fool you; it’s actually the safest place in Gotham, now.” A.C. explained. The five walked along the street, the Lindsey triplets leading the way. Tabitha looked up at her son.

“… What’s your name?”

“T’ony J’onzz. I only use Lyght as my alias.” he told her. It was almost enough to make her stop walking.

“… I named you…”

“Yes; I was told after an old friend of yours. Father never minded it; he was satisfied that you gave him children.”

“C-Children…? As in plural…? As in… I have more kids?!?!” she stopped dead in her tracks. T’ony laughed slightly.

“Only my sister.” he smiled down at her, “I take it that you came from a time in the past where father and you are not together?”

“We… just started dating…” she looked back at her son and suddenly smiled, “You look **so** much like J’onn…”

“On the contrary. It’s my sister that favors father the most. While I can shape shift to look exactly like him, she doesn’t have to so much…”

“I just bet! So… you two can do everything that he can…”

“Just about.” he answered. She didn’t know what else to say or even think. When she realized this, her eyes widened and she shot him a look.

“Seeing that I’m still your mother, whether I’m from the past or not, don’t you **dare** go through my mind!” she warned. It made the Martian laugh and look down at her.

“I won’t! It felt really good hearing that once more…” he smiled sadly. She took notice and looked straight ahead.

“This ain’t messing up any time space continuum thingy, is it?”

“No. Time travel is so fluent now. The only thing that disrupts it is bringing artifacts back from the past or future that don’t belong here… like Lord Chronos is doing.”

“Things that alter the time line…”

“Exactly.” T’ony agreed. The five stopped in front of a familiar building.

“Hey… this is my old apartment building. Is this where Ramil and Ashley live?”

“Yeah. They’ve lived here for as long as we can remember…” Jamil trailed off. As they went inside, Tabitha took a deep breath. Sure enough, they stopped in front of her actual old apartment. After T’ony knocked on the door, a much older Ramil opened it. His hair was still kept short however it was fully grey along with his facial hair. His once lean frame was almost frail. His eyes immediately glistened when they fell on the triplets but then widened as he looked at Tabitha.

“… Ta-Tabitha? Is that really you…?”

“Ramil…” she smiled. She wasn’t expecting a hug but he gave her one anyway. The move told her everything that she didn’t want to know; she was dead.

“You brought the triplets with you. How… are you here?”

“Long story…” she fought tears.

“Come in, come in! Ashley; we have company!” Ramil called behind him. As the five went inside the apartment, they were greeted by Ashley who came from the kitchen. Her once dark brown hair was fully grey however still had its length. She looked at the five in their living room and immediately covered her mouth.

“Tabitha? Triplets? Oh…” she couldn’t contain her tears as she rushed over and hugged the four, holding on tightly to Tabitha. She finally released her and set her moist eyes on T’ony, “Oh, my. T’ony J’onzz. I haven’t seen you since you were little!”

“It’s nice to see you two, again. I would visit more often but under the current circumstances…”

“We understand.” Ramil confirmed. He looked at everyone as he sat down, “It’s really nice to see you guys…” he eyed the triplets. Solonia huffed but a warning glare from Tabitha made her simply turn her head. Tabitha simply looked at the elderly couple.

“So, um, back to that long story; I was pretty much warped from my present to now. We were chasing Dav… Lord Chronos…”

“Oh… him. Figured he had something to do with this.” Ashley slowly sat down. Her wrinkled hands carefully made the hot tea from the teapot pour into her cup.

“We don’t have much time but my mother wanted to know what happened to Aunt…” T’ony glanced over at the triplets, “… to Jamila and Albert.”

“They pretty much said that the Justice League killed them; that they had a hand in it. Tell me that ain’t true…” Tabitha pried. The two looked at Tabitha strangely.

“How far in the past are you from…?” Ramil asked.

“Fifty years… give or take.”

“Oh… so the civil war hasn’t happened yet.”

“Civil?” Tabitha switched glances from Ramil to Ashley, “As in…”

“Between the Justice League. It divided the entire nation, actually. There was a huge argument between J’onn and Clark; no one really knew what it was about. But, it was made public and quite a few people took advantage of that.” Ashley started.

“People who agreed with J’onn joined him and another league was formed.”

“Did you two…?”

“Yes. We didn’t know what the argument was about but… for you to have asked us personally to join… we couldn’t say no. One of the people who took advantage of this was Amanda Waller.” Ramil continued. Tabitha gave the two a confused look, “You haven’t met her yet in your time period?” he slightly widened his eyes. She slowly shook her head, “Just be cautious of her when you do. Anyway; she sponsored the Justice League of America and made J’onn the leader…”

“Just in case Superman went rogue…” T’ony finished for him. Tabitha looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“… J’onn can match up to Clark?!”

“And then some. And if he couldn’t… Waller made sure that she had convinced the people on Earth that he could.” Ashley finished. Tabitha looked down at her hands.

“You said several people; who were the others?”

“Only one other: Ares, the god of war. He saw the distrust between the two and convinced someone on the Justice League to unleash his robot of war against everyone. It was called the Annihilator. It had been kept locked up for years on Watchtower. We didn’t know that he had a hand in this at the time; we blamed the Justice League and we attacked them. The fighting… went out into the streets… getting the civilians involved.”

“The Annihilator was activated by rage, hate and war. No one knew this except for J’onn, Diana and two others. When it came to life… that was when J’onn’s eyes were opened. He tried to calm everyone down, to get the civilians out of harm’s way… but everything had turned chaotic by then…” Ashley slowly explained. Everyone listened closely and Tabitha wondered what it had to do with her best friend and her husband. When she finally realized it, she put her head in her hands and fought tears.

“No… doc and Albert were there…”

“We had heard J’onn’s orders and started trying to help calm everyone down. By the time I found them, Albert was… dead…” a couple of tears made their way down Ramil’s cheek. He looked over at the triplets, “It was no one’s fault, really; he had been trampled to death. But your mother… she couldn’t be reasoned with. She went on a rampage; against the Justice League, against… us… before we could do anything to calm her down… the Annihilator got a hold of her…” his words were shaky. Ashley grabbed his hand and looked at everyone.

“There wasn’t anything anyone could do; attacking meant the robot would only rage more. By the time anyone would’ve reacted… she was already dead; it happened **that** quickly.” she finished explaining. The triplets who were reluctant at first were now looking at the couple, all three clearly shaken.

“We… always thought that it was blatant. That… the Justice League just… stood there and watched them die, not doing nothing…” A.C. choked out. Ramil slowly shook his head.

“No matter if it was the Justice League or JLA… they would never do anything like that. You three… actually believed that of all people, we wouldn’t have done anything if we could’ve? … I would’ve given my life for my sister to stay alive…”

“… So would I… why didn’t I…?” Tabitha wiped at her tears.

“You were pregnant; J’onn was not having you out in the field.” Ashley explained. She nodded solemnly. She turned to her son and saw that he was on his communicator; she wondered how old he was when the civil war had broken out… or if she was pregnant with him when it happened. He looked at her with a dry smile.

“I’m sorry, mom; we have to go…” it felt weird for her to hear someone call her that, let alone someone who was nearly a copy of J’onn, “The team has found something out. We have to cut this short.” he stood.

“If you don’t mind… we want to stay here for a while…” Jamil said almost lowly. Tabitha looked at the three and smiled, along with Ramil and Ashley.

“We don’t mind. I can start cooking, now.” Ashley said, getting up. Tabitha and T’ony hugged everyone and left. Leaving the building, she took in everything that she learned and realized that there were still a few things that she wanted answers to. Seeing that it wasn’t going to hurt the time space continuum, she looked at her son.

“I take it that… me and J’onn are dead…” she quietly asked. T’ony stopped walking and looked at her.

“… Yes. Father was one of the first killed during Lord Chronos’ initial attack.”

“… When did I die…?”

“… Last week…” it saddened both of them. Tabitha sighed and tried not to fully think about it. She badly wanted to think about other things. Her mind went to how the small group encountered the future League members… and what her son was capable of.

“T’ony… you have my powers. How…?” she decided to ask. He smiled a little.

“… I was born with them…” he left it at that. Once the two exited the building, they both noticed the change of scenery around them. There were buildings that she knew that had no business being there… the Eiffel Tower being one of them. Looking more closely, they also saw a white wave of energy taking over the night sky in the distance.

“Whoa… what the hell…”

“This isn’t good. Let’s go…”

* * *

The older Bruce looked at the younger Bruce, almost studying him as he made calculations on the computer.

“Has she already started dating J’onn?” he asked lowly. Younger Bruce nodded as the elder shook his head, “You should’ve told her how you felt a long time ago…”

“I take it we still have feelings for her.” younger Bruce commented. They both looked as Tabitha and her son appeared, talking to Virgil, John and Diana. The elderly man smiled as he watched her.

“Some things are harder to let go than others. Letting go of Batman or Tabitha? I’d chose Batman every single time…” he continued to look at her as they all made their way towards the two. Virgil looked at Tabitha and T’ony.

“We found out some things while you were away. Chronos is making things very unstable around here.”

“We saw. There was a white energy covering the sky when we left.” T’ony informed.

“That isn’t good. We’ve got to stop him from going back and forth through time; convince him to go back to his time period.”

“How do we do that though? We got no idea where he is…” Tabitha pointed out.

“His goons, the Jokerz would know.” Rex said.

“Okay… how is this gonna work? It was eight against five… seven…” Tabitha remembered that the female twins split into two, “and we still were about to get whooped!”

“We’ll have to separate them; get the weakest one to talk…”[4] the younger Bruce said. Terry looked at him in curiosity.

“Get the weakest one to talk? Is he serious?!”[5]

“Knowing him like we do, that would be a yes!” Diana smiled.

“Sometimes the old ways are best.”[6] younger Bruce shrugged.

“It’s not going to work, whatever you’re thinking about. You don’t know your way around here. Things have changed.”[7] Terry told him. The younger Bruce looked at the older Bruce.

“Are criminals still superstitious and cowardly…?”[8]

“Yep.”[9]

“Good enough for me…”[10]

“So, what’s the plan? How we gonna find the weakest link?”

“We’ll need… your son’s help for that. You have all the powers your dad had?” younger Bruce looked at T’ony.

“Almost…”

“Shape shifting?”

“Most definitely.” T’ony smiled. Tabitha looked at the two and suddenly widened her eyes.

“No… I don’t want him involved in this.”

“Tabitha…”

“Mom; I can take care of myself!” T’ony slightly rolled his eyes, “You really **are** my mother!” he sighed out, gaining slight laughter from the others. John put his hand on Tabitha’s shoulder.

“You, um… you **do** realize that he’s J’onn’s son as well… right?” he smirked. She blushed and smiled a little.

“S-Sorry…”

“Okay; well, the timeline is degrading rapidly; there’s no telling what will happen or how much time we actually have left.” Virgil cleared his throat and looked at T’ony, “You know what to do?”

“Pose as a rogue, find the snitch out the group…” he nodded and was about to leave until Tabitha grabbed him by his arms. He huffed, “Mom! Stop it; I’ll be fine!” he narrowed his eyes at her, apparently embarrassed. She reluctantly let go and slightly smiled.

“J-Just wanted to tell you good luck…”

“Martians don’t need luck; we have skills…” he retaliated, making her raise her eyebrows. He turned to look at her as he was leaving, “That’s what you always told me…”

“… Oh…” she smiled. Suddenly he approached her and gave her a huge hug and left. She turned to look at the others, “W-What?!”

“Motherly instinct?” Terry asked. Her cheeks ached at his words; she had never expected that she would end up a mother… to two children… fathered by none other than Martian Manhunter, himself!

“You **do** know that you have a lot of explaining to do when this is over!” Diana winked at her. Before she could open her mouth, the Amazon disappeared into thin air.

“Oh; what… the hell just happened?! Diana!!”

“No… it’s a time shift. We need to hurry…” younger Bruce realized.

After receiving word from T’ony, the group found themselves on top of an abandoned building, waiting on one of the Jokerz to appear. Tabitha crouched behind an air duct, knees pulled up to her chest, going over everything that happened to her. John joined her.

“Seriously… anything you want to say about all this?”

“… Not really… no. There’s nothing really to say. Well… I’m shocked as all hell!” she slowly shook her head, fighting off her blush. He studied his own son and smirked.

“That makes the two of us…”

“Company!” younger Bruce lowly hissed. The group jumped out of their hiding spots and were facing two of the villains from the Jokerz group; Ghoul and Bonk.

“Looks like we hit the jackpot, Bonk!” Ghoul smiled.

“Wow… guess the plan didn’t work…” Terry shot a look at the younger Bruce. Bonk started to approach the members and smiled.

“Actually… it did…” he mentioned and immediately transformed into T’ony. He looked towards Ghoul who tried to escape but threw a warning stream of lightning towards him, stopping him dead in his tracks. As he stumbled over his own feet, the younger Bruce approached him, grabbed him by the leg and dangled him over the ledge of the building.

“If you don’t tell us what we need to know, I’ll drop you…”[11] he actually threatened, causing Tabitha to widen her eyes.

“Whoa… think I like this Bruce…” she smirked. The elder one shook his head and approached the two.

“I can’t believe I was ever that green. Step aside; **this** is how you interrogate someone!”[12] he mentioned, throwing Ghoul away from the ledge. He raised his cane above his head, getting ready to strike.

“Okay, okay! W-What do you want to know?”

“Everything about Lord Chronos.”

“H-He can travel through time, backwards and forwards! He has this belt that lets him do it! He brings stuff back with him; that’s how we were able to kill off the majority of the League! He says that… he’s a wanted man so he hardly stays here in this time period. And, that’s everything I really know!”[13]

“Everything?”[14] younger Bruce eyed him. Ghoul shook slightly in fear.

“… I wet the bed until I was fourteen!”[15]

“Losing my patience…”[16] older Bruce raised his cane once more.

“You know, I can’t keep my friend held back much longer if you don’t start giving us some useful information…”[17] younger Bruce threatened.

“Huh! Batman playing ‘good cop’?”[18]

“Tell me about it! Where’s the popcorn when you need it?!” Tabitha said to Virgil.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… uh… I know where he’s got his wife prisoner at…?” Ghoul tried. Tabitha eyed the three.

“That weirdo has a wife?!”

“… Maybe she didn’t have a choice…?” Rex asked, producing a snicker from the lightning woman.

“She’s in the pyramid; you can’t miss it! Enid Clinton!”

The group walked inside the Egyptian pyramid and were immediately greeted by robotic guards. Tabitha held her hands out, stopping the others from attacking.

“No; ain’t no one taking this from me: I got this…” she cracked her fingers and immediately shocked them. One went crashing through a tomb door.

“Showoff…” Virgil mumbled.

“If we come across some mummies, then I’ll let you handle ‘em; let me shine for a moment!” she eyed him with a hint of a smile. The members went through the destroyed door and saw a woman dressed as an Egyptian goddess. She was lying in bed, watching TV and eating snacks. Before they could approach her, John immediately transformed into someone else, a Caucasian man with dark blond hair. The group immediately looked at him.

“Umm…” Tabitha slightly raised her hand. He turned to look at the group.

“What?”

“… John?” Virgil tried.

“Hal Jordan. Another time shift. I’m up to speed; carry on…”[19]

“You know what… maybe I don’t wanna go on anymore missions…”

“This is just proof of how much the timeline is being altered. Because of these time shifts, any one of us could cease to exist or transform into someone else.” younger Bruce explained.

“Wait; so you’re telling me that when Diana disappeared… she was erased from history? Period?!” Tabitha asked.

“A possibility. Either she never existed or she never left Themyscira…”

“Yeah… we need to hurry this up! Enid Clinton…” Tabitha approached the woman. She looked up at the group and slightly nodded.

“Where is your husband?” Hal Jordan asked her. She huffed slightly.

“Now that you got rid of those guards, I can show you exactly where he is; he sleeps in the same place every night!” she got up from the bed.

“This could be a trap…” Tabitha eyed her. T’ony laid a gentle hand on his mother’s shoulder and stared at Enid. He shook his head.

“She’s telling the truth.” he nodded. Tabitha looked up at him and smirked.

“You really are your father’s son…”

The group was led to a roman coliseum where inside was the Elkhorn jail. As Hal scanned the building with the power of his green ring, he immediately turned back into John.

“Would you make up your mind?!”[20] Terry threw his hands up.

“No traps detected…” John assured.

“Okay. This is the last thing I’m gonna question in this weird ass place: why in the hell would he sleep in a jail cell; the same one he was in for twenty years?!” Tabitha questioned. Enid huffed and started to go inside.

“A loser with a kingdom is still a loser!”[21]

“Lady, I’m not gonna pretend to understand the meaning behind that but… oh, fuck it; it **does** make sense!” Tabitha said. Just when the group was going to apprehend Lord Chronos, his wife shook him awoke. Tabitha widened her eyes and threw her hands up in amusement, “ **Why**?! Why would you do that and make things complicated?!”

“Seems as though stealth is not a quality of hers…” T’ony pointed out. As soon as Lord Chronos opened his eyes, he opened up a portal, letting the Jokerz appear.

“We have to get to him before everything is destroyed!” the younger Bruce said.

“Wait; what was the plan?” Tabitha asked. He pulled out a small disc.

“Downloading this into his belt…”

“Alright; not gonna ask for the details… we’ll handle the Jokerz…” she made the decision. He grabbed her hand, remembering what his older self told him.

“Tabitha… be careful…”

“No worries; I got my son to back me up! You just install that disc! Come on, Martian Lyght; I see some twins with our names on ‘em!”

“Just like old times…” T’ony slightly smiled, putting on his hood.

“No… I got those two; you take care of the others.” Terry said and immediately approached Dee Dee, the twins with the electric whips. Tabitha and Tony went after Bonk while Virgil and Rex went after Ghoul and Woof. As John and Bruce tried to contain Lord Chronos, the other battles spread to outside the jail cell. Virgil looked at T’ony and Tabitha.

“If we combine our powers, I think we can wipe them all out!” he called over to them.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Tabitha smiled. Before they could join him, a time rift opened beside Virgil and sucked him inside. Tabitha looked on in fear.

“Virgil; no!!”

“This is bad. Time is degrading faster. We can do this; don’t lose focus, mom!” T’ony said and went after Ghoul.

“I won’t…son…” she smiled and threw lightning along with him, aiming towards Bonk. The two Jokerz tried to rally together to defeat the two however with a quick nod to each other, they did a simultaneous Lighting Cloud, landing behind the backs of Ghoul and Bonk. The two charged up with all of their might, placed their hands on their backs and released all of their power, sending the two Jokerz flying across the other side of the coliseum, “Nice!”

“I learned from the best…” he winked at her. He looked over and saw that the Dee Dee twins split into four, “Let’s help Terry out…”

“Yeah… I owe them a taste of their own medicine…” she looked over with an evil grin. The two were about to make their way over until another time rift opened, bringing a wooly mammoth and French revolutionary soldiers into the arena, “Not gonna question it, not gonna question it…” she mumbled. The soldiers looked around at their surroundings confusedly but decided to aim their muskets towards Terry. T’ony and Tabitha pushed the soldiers out of the way, their weapons firing into the air. It was enough to distract Terry for a moment, long enough for the Dee Dee quartet to corner him and hit him with their whips. Before anyone could come to his rescue, the electrical currents coursed through all four whips, electrocuting Terry to death.

“No…” T’ony half whispered; his mother had nearly frozen in place. He suddenly saw that the wooly mammoth was charging towards her; he grabbed her and did a quick Lightning Cloud out of harm’s way. It continued its stampede however towards Rex.

“Watch out!” Tabitha finally found her voice. Before she could get him out of the way, the mammoth was emerged by a green bubble and carried away from the battles. Tabitha looked towards John who sighed for relief. Looking up, he saw the white energy wave that T’ony and Tabitha had seen on the outskirts of town; it was closing in on the coliseum. He looked towards Lord Chronos.

“Don’t you see what you’ve done? Can’t you see that this isn’t normal? Look up and see for yourself; time is unraveling!” he tried to argue. Lord Chronos finally looked up and saw the white wave which was closing in on them at a steady rate and sighed.

“If you don’t use that belt of yours to stop this, there’ll be nothing for you to take over!” Tabitha had joined John and Bruce. Lord Chronos thought about her words and finally nodded.

“You’re right. I’m the only one who has the power to stop this… to fix this…”

“Yes!” Bruce agreed.

“That means… it’s all up to me. If I can… if I can go back to the beginning of time… why, I can undo it all… and become a god!”

“Wait… what?! I don’t think… he understood what we were really trying to say! You fucking loony toon; that’s **not** what we meant!!” Tabitha yelled at him. He went over to his wife, kissed her and opened up a portal. The three present League members prepared to follow him yet again, with Tabitha grabbing her son’s hand. When he didn’t move, she looked back at him, “What are you doing? Let’s go before the portal closes…”

“No. I can’t. This is my time era; I can’t go back with you.”

“But…”

“Mom… it’ll be okay. If you stop him, don’t worry; I’ll be around. I love you, mom. Now, go!” he said and pushed her inside the portal with Bruce and John. As John enclosed the bubble around the three, Tabitha looked back and watched as the portal closed. John looked at her and nodded.

“He’s right. Once we stop him, the timeline will return to normal for them.” he tried to comfort her. She sighed and reluctantly turned around, nodding a little. Lord Chronos was right in front of them and soon they saw what looked like a hand at the end of the warp tunnel.

“Um… what the hell is that…?”

“The Dawn of Time. The Green Lanterns have a legend: no one can see the beginning of time. It’s a universal law.”[22] John explained. Bruce slightly smirked.

“Hmph; write him a ticket!”[23]

“If he reaches that… he could change everything ever known. We gotta catch up to him; can’t you make this go faster?”

“What do you think I’m doing?” John grunted as he pushed the power of his ring, “Almost there…” he saw that they were finally within arm’s length of Lord Chronos. Using his other arm, John reached out for him and pulled him inside the bubble. Bruce quickly inserted the disc into his belt.

“No! What are you doing?! You said I was the only one who can fix this!!”

“Sorry…” Tabitha said as he started to disappear. Once he was gone, she sighed but saw that they were having another problem, “Um, John… you can slow down now…”

“I’m… trying…” he grunted out. With all of his might, he tried to slow down as they drew closer and closer to the giant hand swirling with cosmic energy. She knew that they wouldn’t be able to stop and closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever was going to happen to the three. There was a moment of complete silence and then she heard noises. When she opened her eyes, she saw that… she was in the cafeteria. John and Bruce were sitting down in front of her with their trays just as they were before they all heard the intruder alarm. All three blinked at each other, slightly taking in their surroundings.

“Do… you two remember a time traveling mission…?” John tried. Tabitha slowly nodded.

“… Yeah…”

“It’s like… we never left…” Bruce noticed. Tabitha saw Diana approaching the table with her tray and she smiled at the three.

“Tabitha! Glad you’re here; I have a re… ooh, what happened to your head, John?” she asked, examining a scar on the top of his head. He gave her a strange look but ran his fingers across it, wincing slightly; he must have gotten it during the last battle, he realized.

Tabitha cocked her head towards Diana and wondered why she didn’t remember the time traveling trip. She then realized that Diana had disappeared before they had a chance to confront David Clinton. She remembered what Bruce had said and wondered if her disappearing altered the fact that she was even with them throughout the entire “mission”.

Tabitha put on a sheepish smile.

“That was my bad; me and John were training…” she covered. The two men eyed her strangely as Diana shrugged.

“Don’t let her catch you off guard next time!” she continued to smile. Before Diana could sit down, someone grabbed her attention from across the way, “I’ll be back to talk to you shortly, Tabitha…” she said and made her way across the cafeteria. Bruce leaned towards Tabitha.

“Why did you lie to her?”

“She don’t remember it; probably none of it. I don’t know how much time traveling you guys do but I had a feeling that she wouldn’t have taken it too seriously…”

“She’s right. It’s probably best if we just kept this amongst each other, then.” John agreed.

“It makes me wonder, though; what if that wacko comes back?” Tabitha asked. Bruce slightly smiled.

“You don’t have to worry about that. The program I downloaded will keep him stuck in a loop if he tries to use the belt again!” the idea made the three laugh. Bruce looked at Tabitha and reflected on what they had just went through. Going by that future, it looked as though the lightning woman and the Martian were meant to be; or at least they would have a child together, “I think that there are other things that we have to worry about… well, at least the two of you do…” he decided to say it. Tabitha lightly blushed as the two men had their eyes on her.

“So… you and J’onn are…”

“N-No…we’re not. I was just… overwhelmed that of all people fate would put me with… it would be… him…” she felt her cheeks ache at the thought. She had never thought about how long term their relationship would be; she was just taking things one day at a time, “A-Anyway… that don’t mean nothing…”

“Really? You’re saying that what we witnessed wasn’t real?” Bruce tried to hide his smirk. She shrugged.

“Not saying that. I’m just saying that the future can be changed. John and Shayera ain’t together no more but they had a son, too, right?” she was glad to have switched the pressure back to him. He stiffened slightly at her words, looking as Shayera put her tray away and walked out of the cafeteria.

“So, neither one of you will say anything to them?”

“… Tabitha has a point. Besides… I don’t think it would change anything…” John realized.

She couldn’t help reliving the secret mission over and over again. She had hoped that everything was back to normal for that time era. However, what did it mean, she wondered. If David Clinton was stuck in a time loop in his own era that meant the Justice League members were still alive. But, did it mean that the civil dispute wouldn’t happen? Would Albert and Jamila Lindsey still meet their untimely deaths that day? She didn’t want to think about that; she had put her focus on what was really important: her son… **their** son… their **children**.

According to that future, the Martian and the lightning woman had formed a family. She thought about what she had told the men; that the future could be changed. Did she really want that? Did she want to alter the fact that she would become Mrs. J’onzz and have two Martian children with him? She couldn’t allow herself to think that far ahead and made the decision that if it happened… it just happened.

Another thing that slightly puzzled her; T’ony J’onzz’s abilities. He possessed her lightning ability, saying that he was born with it. When she thought about it, she knew exactly what that meant; according to that timeline… she was never cured. She had accepted the fact and passed the gene on to her children, or at least to her son; it made her slightly irritated that she hadn’t gotten more details about her daughter. Tabitha knew that her window of opportunity may had already closed as far as getting cured however she was coasting on the hope that the mutant strand was still in the process of trying to merge. It made her realize that there was one person she most definitely needed to talk to.

Jamila was surprised to see Tabitha and Bruce standing on her porch as she opened the door. She gave them a huge smile, moving so that the two could go inside.

“Tabs, Mr. Wayne! This is a definite… surprise; okay, what’s with the looks?” she immediately noticed the mood change when she closed the door. They both received her hugs regardless, “Something wrong?”

“Doc… has that mutant strand already fused with me?” Tabitha had decided that the only way was to blurt out the question. The professor let out a slight gasp but shot a look at Bruce.

“You told her? I thought I had asked you two to let me tell her!” she started to scold. When she saw that her best friend also shot a look at him, she knew that she had said a bit too much.

“Wait… you already knew…?” she tried to control her anger. Bruce sighed.

“Might as well get all of this out in the open” Dr. Lindsey was supposed to tell you when we found out. I know she can tell you why it took her so long but… I don’t think any of us would’ve predicted that we would go on that mission before she could…” he tried to explain. Her hands slightly clenched, Tabitha looked down at the hardwood floor that made up the hallway.

“You said… ‘we’… and you said ‘two’… who else kn…” she closed her eyes tightly when she put two and two together, “J’onn. J’onn… knew… and none of you wanted to tell me…?” she opened her eyes and glared at the two.

“How could we? I didn’t have the heart to…”

“Oh; so, the plan was to just say ‘fuck it’ and let me keep hoping for a cure?! ‘Don’t worry about it; she **wants** her powers, now’!!”

“Tabs, you know it wasn’t like that!” Jamila tried. Tabitha stormed into the kitchen and slumped down into a chair, trying her best to calm down. She couldn’t believe that the three that she had trusted the most would keep this from her.

“When? When did it fuse? Was it when I got to Watchtower…?” she tried to control her breathing. Jamila bit her lip and looked over at Bruce, who gave her a solemn look. She put her attention back to her best friend.

“… No. T-There was a reason… why Dr. Castillo’s antidote didn’t work…” she reluctantly told her, tears threatening to run down to her cheeks. Tabitha stopped breathing and slowly looked up at the professor.

“Back… back in… New York…? You mean to tell me that…” she started back to breathing, trying not to show her own tears, “So… that’s that, huh? No cure for me…” she almost whispered.

“I’m so sorry, Tabitha! You weren’t supposed to use your powers; it sped up the process! I didn’t find out until you went to Watchtower for your treatments…” Jamila’s voice quivered.

“Why… why didn’t you just fucking tell me, then…? I would’ve at least known…” Tabitha ran her shaky hands through her hair. Jamila let out a sob.

“I’m so sorry! I… was gonna tell you… I just… didn’t know how…” she cried. Tabitha pulled at her hair slightly but immediately got up. She hugged her best friend.

“Would you stop it with the waterworks?!”

“This is all my fault!!”

“It’s not… and you know that. Look… it’s over with. What’s done is done. Bridge over the water…”

“… That’s water under the bridge…” she sniffed. Tabitha narrowed her eyes at the woman and suddenly yanked on one of her dreads, “Ow! Bitch!” her sudden outburst put a small smile on Tabitha’s face.

“That’s for keeping shit from me… and correcting me all the damn time! I’m still pissed at you…” Tabitha glanced towards Bruce, “And you… and I’ll have a talk with that damn Martian later! Just… stop treating me like some damn teenager! I’m grown… and I can take bad news! I kinda figured I was stuck, anyway…”

“Works out for the best?” Bruce asked. Tabitha thought about it for a moment. If it wasn’t for her powers, she would have never been able to weld or make things indestructible. She wouldn’t have met Peter and became his sidekick. She wouldn’t have met Bruce and became **his** sidekick! And furthermore… she would have never went aboard Watchtower and met J’onn.

“I guess it does…” she realized. The front door suddenly opening drew everyone’s attention. Jamila wiped at her eyes as rapid footsteps and sounds of book bags dropping on the floor were heard.

“We’re home!!” Solonia yelled. Jamil ran into the kitchen and his smile widened.

“Miss Tabitha!!” he yelled and immediately hugged her. On cue, the other two Lindsey children ran in and did the same. It made Tabitha smile even more and hug them back, thinking back to when she had seen them in the future. That thought made her heart begin to race slightly.

“Hey, guys! How’s school?”

“We got all As; even A.C.!” Solonia beamed, waving a paper in her face. She laughed when the boys did the same even though A.C. slightly glared at his sister.

“That is so awesome! Tell you what; let me talk to your mom for a minute and if it’s okay with her, I’ll treat you guys to something special…”

“Yeah!”

“Cool!”

“Are we gonna go meet Superman?!”

“Pick up those book bags and straighten your rooms; we’ll think about it…” Jamila took their report cards as the three bolted out of the kitchen. Tabitha looked at her best friend and immediately hugged her again, “W-What…? I stopped crying…”

“Doc, promise me one thing…” she made the decision that she had to tell her **something** ; even if it meant tampering with a future timeline that was supposedly set in stone, “If a civil war breaks out between the Justice League… promise to stay in the house…”

“… What…?” Jamila wanted to look at her. Bruce gave her a confused look as well but Tabitha hugged her tighter.

“Promise that you and Albert stay with the kids…”

“Tabs… I don’t understand…”

“Just… promise me! Please…” her voice cracked as a tear forced its way out. She reluctantly hugged her friend back.

“Alright… I promise…”

* * *

[1]-[23] Dialogue taken from Justice League Unlimited episode: The Once and Future Thing Part II


	18. A Helping Hand

“Tabs!!” the suddenness of the professor’s voice entering her brain startled her immensely. J’onn noticed and looked at her.

“Is everything fine?”

“No! This damn idiot is trying to bust my eardrum out!” she had to take the communicator out to rub at her sore ear, “Wait… how are you on this channel?!” it was her turn to attempt to deafen her best friend.

“… Ow…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mention it to you earlier; I gave Dr. Lindsey a communicator. She’s just as a reliable asset as any of the Justice League members, now.” the Martian told her. Seeing that she was his girlfriend’s best friend, he knew that if he didn’t know where she was, the professor would more than likely know. The idea came to him during a very confusing moment; he could not make any contact with either her, Bruce, John or Diana whatsoever. The four were nonresponsive for almost an hour however neither wanted to say for sure where they had been. When he made an attempt to go through their minds, he received no answers except for Tabitha’s concern for the Lindsey family. He had to shrug it off; whatever happened between the four, they wanted to keep it amongst themselves and he wouldn’t pry any further.

“You hear that; I’m Justice League material!”

“That does **not** make you a member! What do you want; I’m busy!” J’onn chuckled at the fact that she was smiling when she said it; he knew that she was always willing to talk to the professor.

“Whatever! I’m requesting entry onto Watchtower; got a special visitor for you…” she informed. Tabitha looked at J’onn and he gave her a small smile.

“I’ll let you make the decision… as well as do the honors…” he motioned towards the control panel. It made her heart warm up that he was letting her take control; she had seen him handle the controls of Watchtower so many times and figured that she knew what to do. She couldn’t help but to have a wide grin plastered on her face.

The Martian looked on with a sense of proudness as she accurately put in the channel the professor was using and retrieved her coordinates. She didn’t look over at him for help; he knew that she was more than ready to become the Monitor if he ever made the decision to step down.

“Alright; coordinates are set: prepare for transport.” Tabitha informed and ended transmission. She looked over at J’onn, “You’ve got to stop keeping things from me…” she said with a more serious face.

“Believe me, it was not intentional… but, I do apologize.” he looked at her with an equally serious face, “I just assumed that since she is someone you trust fully, I should do the same…” he finished. She couldn’t help but to soften her look at him; he was sincere about everything. She gave out a sigh and gave him a quick hug. She made sure that she kissed the cheek facing away from the others.

“Thank you…” she smiled and continued the teleport process.

“Any idea who this ‘special visitor’ is?”

“None. I thought it would be the triplets but I think she would’ve just straight out told me that they were coming. Maybe it’s…” her thoughts were interrupted when two figures appeared on the teleportation pads. She waited until both no longer looked as though they were dizzy to approach them, “P; buddy!!” she reacted and gave him a huge hug. Peter gave out a laugh and hugged her back.

“It’s really nice to see you, again, Tabby Cat…” his words made her flush a shade of red, prompting J’onn and Jamila to laugh.

“Don’t call me that!” she mumbled. Peter threw his head back in laughter.

“You’ve been Tabby Cat since day one; I’m not about to stop calling you that!” he gleamed at her. His glance switched from the embarrassed woman to the Martian who approached the three. He appeared menacing to Peter, although J’onn had a small smile on his face. Peter immediately stuck his hand out, “J’onn J’onzz…?”

“Yes. And you must be Peter Parker. She’s talked so much about you.” he said, shaking his hand.

“Funny… she hasn’t said much about you… or to me, for that matter…” Peter gave her a look. She tried to shy away from his look, locking her arm around her best friend’s arm.

“I’ll leave you three to catch up, then. You can give Peter a tour of Watchtower if you like… Tabby Cat…” he gave his girlfriend a small smile. She flushed even more as he turned to tend to the controls of Watchtower. She scoffed as she took the two away from the control room and down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

“Gaddamn Martian…” she mumbled.

“ _I can still hear you, by the way…_ ” his voice inside her head made her wince. Jamila took noticed and laughed.

“He heard ya…?”

“Yeah…” she sighed and the two women laughed, “So… you brought him here to lecture me about not staying in contact…?”

“The conversation came up…” Peter slightly smiled, “It would’ve been nice to have known where you actually were.”

“I didn’t want you coming after me, trying to talk me into coming back to New York.”

“All you had to do was tell me that you didn’t want to come back. But… it looks like you’re in good hands…”

“Yep; nice, big and green hands…” Jamila smiled at Tabitha. Her eyes widened at her best friend as Peter looked at the two.

“What… you and J’onn J’onzz are…”

“… Having Martian sex!” Jamila answered for Tabitha. She covered her friend’s mouth, interrupting her lewd dance.

“W-W-What is wrong with you?! We’ve had this conversation before about him reading minds, right?! A-A-And… why are you so excited about this?! God, you’re like a child!”

“Aw, come on, Tabs; tell me it ain’t sexy thinking about it!” her words made the young woman flustered.

“Hmm… thinking about it… it **is** kind of… hot…” Peter joined in. Tabitha swung around and gave him a surprised look.

“Two words, Peter: shape… shifter…” Jamila waggled her eyebrows.

“Oh… now **that** is interesting!”

“Oh… my fucking… God… would you two pervs stop talking about my sex life?! Why?!?!”

“Because it’s too easy to get you to turn so many shades of red!” Jamila laughed. Tabitha sighed and continued to blush as her two friends laughed.

“I really, really hope he’s listening to you two… anyway; so, you two just wanted to visit?”

“Not really. I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

“Wait… we ain’t seen each other in, what, two years and you want a favor from me?”

“Seeing that you ran away from me…”

“I did **not** run away…”

“… Whatever makes you sleep better at night…” Peter smirked at Tabitha. She gave him a light jab on his shoulder, “I think that you owe me **something**!” he laughed lightly.

“Fine; I’m listening!”

“I have an acquaintance who may need a little help with a… well, let’s just call it a project of his. I promised him that if I could find you, you might be willing to help out.”

“You know I don’t know nothing but wires and stuff…”

“Which makes you the perfect candidate. His name is Tony Stark and…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… Tony Stark? **The** Tony Stark?!”

“… Who’s Tony Stark…?” Tabitha looked at Jamila. Her brown eyes widened at her young friend.

“Wow, you **really** need to spend more time down on Earth! Tony Stark is a brilliant engineer and he owns Stark Industries…”

“… Stark Industries… kinda rings a bell…”

“They were top suppliers to the military for weapons and high-tech gadgets. Let’s put it this way: whatever Bruce Wayne doesn’t own, Tony Stark does! Oh; **and** he’s Iron Man!” Jamila continued to rant. Tabitha looked at Peter, who nodded in agreement.

“Another superhero. So, he has all this access to technology and he’s a genius; what the hell would he need me for?”

“He’s overworking himself. He needs some help upgrading his suits.” Peter tried to explain. Tabitha nodded slightly but suddenly looked over at Jamila, who sighed.

“He uses a metal suit when he’s Iron Man. I heard that he has a lot of prototypes for it, too…”

“You know… you know a **lot** about this guy…”

“He’s a top engineer and one of the best damn physicists known; I make it my duty to know about him! Plus… he’s quite handsome…”

“Geez… how did I know?! Why are you even married if ya gonna look at other men?!”

“Remember; look but don’t touch…” Jamila noted and the three laughed. Tabitha leaned against the wall and thought for a moment.

“So… he’s gonna need some upgrades to all of ‘em…?”

“I think so but I’m not sure.” Peter answered.

“How many does he have so far?”

“… Ten?” his answer made her blink a couple of times at him.

“Think I’m gonna need some help…” she said and looked dead at Jamila. It was her turn to blink a few times at her friend.

“Who… me? Oh, trust me, I’m honored and all but…”

“Not you; you’d probably rape the guy! Ramil and Ashley! I don’t know if their powers would come handy… but I’m gonna need all the manpower I can get! Talk to Mr. Stark about letting me have a small crew and we gotta deal!”

* * *

Tabitha, Ramil and Ashley traveled to Malibu, California to Tony Stark’s home; a massive, rounded home that hung on a cliff looking below the Pacific Ocean. Tabitha looked around the circular driveway and put her attention back to the home.

“Umm… are you sure the coordinates were right…?” she knew better than to question J’onn’s judgment; however, as she stood in awe, she couldn’t believe that they were at the right location. It wasn’t as large as Bruce’s manor but it ranked high on Tabitha’s list.

“This… is pretty fucking impressive…” even Ramil was astounded by the sight.

“Yes; the coordinates were correct. I take that it is impressive…?” J’onn’s voice entered Tabitha’s ear.

“An understatement at least! Okay; let’s put out tongues back in our mouths: we got work to do.” she cleared her throat as they approached the door. Before anyone could locate the doorbell, the door swung open and the three were greeted by a slim, leggy woman. Her straight copper blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail with bangs sweeping her forehead. The light grey business suit fit her well as she smiled at the three; as always, Tabitha felt underdressed, wearing a simple blue t-shirt and jeans with her once signature t-shirt head wrap.

“Miss Lyght, Mr. and Mrs. Jones; come in.” she simply announced, letting the three in.

“Oh… Mr. Stark must’ve told you…”

“That… and you’re also being scanned…” the idea made Tabitha stop walking. She looked around for some type of sensors in the large foyer area, “The best security known to man. Pepper Potts…” she finally introduced herself. Tabitha reluctantly shook her hand.

“…Pepper…?” she mused. The leggy woman kept her smile however pointed to the various freckles on her face, “Oh! Tabitha, Ashley and Ramil, then.”

The three were guided towards the living room area, which had a panoramic view of the ocean.

“Your home is really nice…”

“This is Mr. Stark’s home. I’m just CEO of his company.” Pepper corrected Ashley. As she approached the middle of the living room, the floor started to give way, transforming into a circular staircase.

“Holy shit…” Ramil couldn’t help himself. The three were about to follow Pepper down to what they could only think was a basement until she turned and looked at Tabitha.

“What do you know about Tony Stark?”

“… So far, he’s a filthy rich genius engineer superhero who may have too much money or time… or both on his hands!” she smiled. Pepper smiled back but shook her head.

“Seems as though you know very little! Just a warning; he considers himself a ladies’ man…”

“Wait… why didn’t **she** get the warning…?” Tabitha pointed to Ashley.

“She’s married…”

“Well… don’t worry; I’m taken…”

“… You are…?” Ramil looked at Tabitha.

“… Yeah… you don’t remember the twin brother incident…?” she eyed the husband and wife. They gave each other a slight look.

“Wait… **what**?! You and J’onn…” Ashley trailed off. Tabitha sighed.

“C-Can we just keep that between us, please? Anyway… thanks for the warning… but I’m pretty sure I can handle him…” Tabitha smiled at Pepper. She didn’t know what all Peter had told about her; she actually found herself looking forward to Stark “misbehaving”.

When the three followed Pepper down into the basement, they were absolutely amazed at what laid in front of them.

“Jesus… it’s like another house down here!” Ramil’s eyes widened. The “basement” was complete with a training area, a garage and most noted, lab areas. On the far wall, Tabitha noticed the display of armors that she knew she would be working on; roughly six. In the middle of the room was where the group found Tony Stark. His short, black hair laid in a slightly cropped mess on top of his head as he made modifications to a piece of red metal. His black tank top revealed toned and defined arms. The man’s arms weren’t what stuck out to her; the light blue circular glow in the middle of his chest did.

“Sir, you have guests…” a voice came from nowhere, partly computerized. Yet again, Tabitha found herself trying to find the source but failed. Tony reluctantly removed his goggles and slightly glared at the group. Even as he didn’t hide the fact that they were probably not welcomed, Tabitha couldn’t help but to agree that the professor was right; he was indeed handsome. When his eyes landed on her, they softened a bit as a smile played on his lips. She cleared her throat and approached the workstation, sticking her hand out.

“Tabitha Lyght. Heard you needed some help with your suits.” she introduced herself. He simply stared at her, not even bothering to shake her hand.

“Hmm; southern?” he bluntly asked.

“Born and raised!” she was about to retract her hand until he finally shook it, “This is Ramil and Ashley; I hope you don’t mind…”

“I do, actually. But, since you’re already here, we might as well get to work. So… how do you know Peter…?” he asked casually as he stood and went over to his wall of prototypes.

“Um… I was his sidekick… but I’m pretty sure he told you everything about me…”

“He did; I just wanted to hear it from the source.”

“Oh… okay… what you want to know about…?”

“Your alien boyfriend.”

“Martian; what about him?”

“You two have sex?” his question made Ashley and Ramil snicker. Tabitha widened her eyes at his audacity.

“ **W-What**?!”

“I mean, you would think that it would be incompatible if not impossible. I’m just intrigued about the whole thing. Is he built like a human man or is the sex a mind thing…?”

“Oh… my, God…” Ashley laughed.

“M-Mr. Stark!”

“No need for formalities, here; call me Tony.”

“No… I can’t do that. Anyway… it’s none of your business if w…”

“What? Why can’t you? We’re working together, right? Is it a southern thing? You know; hospitality or something like that?”

“It’s… something I don’t wanna get into right now… and that also includes my sex life… which everyone’s got a sudden interest in…” the thought made her slightly blush; she could imagine her best friend doing her lewd dance at that moment, “Look; if you ain’t gonna take this seriously, we can leave.”

“Calm down, southern belle… so, what can you do to these suits?” he waved his arm over to the wall. She joined him and examined the suits from afar.

“… Well… I could make ‘em indestructible but I’d have to take ‘em apart and assemble ‘em all over again…”

“You can do that?” she finally saw a look of surprise on his face and smiled slightly.

“I mean, they’d probably get dinged a little bit but… yeah. Nothing would destroy ‘em…”

“If you can do all that… what the hell do you need us for?” Ramil asked. Her smile grew.

“To make things go by faster! We’re gonna have to dismantle and reassemble. You got blueprints…?” she looked at Tony. He nodded and tapped at his temple, making her lose her smile, “Great…”

For the remainder of the day, the four worked on improving the Iron Man suits. They figured on a method of disassembling all of the suits first, letting Tabitha work her ability on the metal pieces and then reassembling. However, Tony insisted on a trial run and reassembled the Mark II armor first. When he stepped into the suit, it was then that Tabitha realized that whatever was glowing in the middle of Tony’s chest powered up the suit.

“Let’s see what you’ve improved…” he said before putting on his face helmet. The slits that served as eyes lit the same light blue as the orb in the middle of his chest plate. After a few moments going through a checklist, he nodded and motioned for the three, “Give me everything you got.” he challenged. The husband and wife duo looked at Tabitha and she shrugged.

“Okay…” she nodded towards the two. Ramil immediately took a fighting stance briefly before releasing a large stream of fire towards Tony. When it came into proximity, he flicked his wrists, making the stream engulf Tony in an upward spiral. Out of habit, he attempted to shield himself from the fire. Tabitha held her breath, looking on to see if there was any damage. When the fire dissipated and there were no visible signs of any damage, she let out a slight sigh of relief. Without hesitation, Ashley opened up her canteen that she carried on her hip and guided the water out of it. Expanding it, she threw the water towards Tony as hard as she could, encasing him in a bubble. With a quick clench of her fist, the pressure inside the bubble crashed onto him, sending him to his knees. Tabitha didn’t wait for him to get up, she charged up with all of her might and sent various streaks of lightning towards the suit, knocking him back a few feet. She had hoped that the combination of her lightning and Ashley’s water didn’t short circuit the suit as the three approached him. She smiled as the lights in his eye slits and chest plate were still glowing; he gave the three a thumbs up as he immediately removed his head plate.

“That was… amazing! ‘Dawling’, do you know what you just did?”

“… ‘Dawling’…?”

“Your lightning… charged up my suit…”

“Whoa…” Ramil blinked at the two.

“Well, I should’ve known it would but not beyond max capacity! One final test…” he looked at Ashley, “You can work with water; can you form ice?” he asked. She gave him a quick nod, “Freeze me…” he ordered, getting up. Ashley looked at Tabitha for some sort of approval.

“Hold that thought; what the hell is a ‘dawling’?”

“He’s mocking your accent…” Ashley pointed out. She narrowed her eyes at Tony as he slightly rolled his.

“Anyway; something about ice you don’t like?”

“High altitudes causes the suit to ice over and shut down. It just survived flames and built up water pressure so I’m curious. Now… freeze me…” he put his helmet back on. Tabitha nodded towards Ashley, who pulled out more water from her canteen and made it wrap around various parts of the armor. A slight movement of her hands made it ice over and the three waited for some sort of reaction. Seconds later, cracking was heard as Tony freed himself from the ice patches, hovering a couple of feet in the air.

“Nice…” even Tabitha had to show her amusement. He landed back on the ground, removed his helmet and gave the lightning woman a slight smile.

“Is there any way that I can hire you…?”

* * *

As the four made their way back to the first floor, they were greeted by Pepper and another slender woman. Her red locks fell in curls down to her shoulders, moving whenever she moved as she eyed the three that followed Tony, her grey eyes showing a slight glint when they landed on Tabitha.

“Sweet; pizza…” Tabitha noticed the pizza boxes on the elegant glass coffee table instead of the steely stare from the redhead.

“Figured you’d be hungry with all the work you four were doing. This is Tony’s personal assistant, Natalie Rushman.” Pepper introduced. The redhead shook hands with the three, “Help yourselves.” she offered as the three sat down. Natalie gave everyone a polite smile as she stood.

“I have to get going. Mr. Stark, if there isn’t anything…” before she could finish, he waved her off and headed to his personal bar. Tabitha smiled at the woman.

“Aha; not the only one who calls you ‘Mr. Stark’…” she switched glances from Natalie to Tony, giving him a smug grin. He shrugged.

“She works for me...” he simply replied.

“Nice meeting you, Miss Rush…”

“Just Natalie. If you’re here to help Mr. Stark then we’ll see each other, soon.” Natalie smiled and left.

“Drinks around the room?” Tony continued to fix himself a drink; Tabitha noticed without any type of chaser.

“Just a beer, if you got it…” Ramil took him up on his offer. His wife nodded.

“The same here. Tabitha?”

“… Yeah; ditto.”

“What are you, frat boys?” Tony scoffed however handed his three guests beer. He suddenly nodded towards the t-shirt head wrap of Tabitha’s, “Why are you wearing a shirt around your head, dawling?” the last word made her cringe slightly. She sighed; what was she hiding from? She gently took the head wrap off, letting her snow white hair fall to her shoulders.

“Oh… wow…” Pepper couldn’t hide her own amusement. Tony idly grabbed a strand of her hair and studied it.

“Stripped pigments… whatever did this gave you your powers?”

Yeah…”

“What happened to you?” Pepper asked and Tabitha started her story. Before she could fully explain, the phantom computerized voice interrupted her.

“James Rhodes, sir…” it announced as a tall, lean uniformed man entered the room. His coffee skin matched well with the blue uniform, one that Tabitha immediately recognized as an Air Force Service Dress uniform. She was also glad that she remembered her insignias; she knew what the silver oak leafs pinned on his shoulders stood for: lieutenant colonel.

“Just in time; this is James Rhodes, a dear friend of mine and general…”

“Lieutenant colonel…” his eye roll made Tabitha slightly giggle.

“… Of the Air Force.” Tony finished without missing a beat. James shook his head at first as he greeted everyone in the room. When he went to shake Tabitha’s hand, he couldn’t help staring at her white locks.

“A pleasure, sir…” her voice took him out of his trance. He gave her a warm smile.

“Either you’re as southern as your accent portrays or you’re military; only my unit calls me sir!”

“Both, actually… well, I **was** military; Army.” she answered. She took notice that his eyes continued to stare at her hair and smiled, “And I’m from Tennessee. You, um… wanna hear why my hair is white…”

“Yes…” he blinked and sat down with the others.

The next day, the four continued with their work on the armors. It went by faster this time around, seeing that Tony didn’t want to test out the other suits. Tabitha was putting the finishing touches on the last prototype armor; this one was different from the rest, being mainly grey and black instead of the usual red and gold.

“Wow…” a familiar voice commented. She stopped what she was doing and turned, looking into the brown eyes of James. She removed her goggles and smiled, “So, you really can make anything indestructible…?”

“I guess. I just recently moved up to metal. The first test went pretty good. I wanna see it go through a rougher test, though…” she looked around at the other armors. She looked back at him, “So… how did you and Mr. Stark meet?”

“I was a military liaison for Stark Industries. I… didn’t like him at first. Arrogant, selfish, rude…”

“… An asshole…” she volunteered lowly. It was enough to make James laugh.

“I was trying to be nice but yes; Tony can be an asshole some… **all** of the time!” he sighed. She giggled slightly.

“Damn… hate to hear what you say about your enemies!”

“You pointed it out! I admit; he’s a jerk but… he’s a good jerk, you know?” he commented. She could only nod in agreement; she had never met anyone like Tony Stark. She saw that behind the attitude, he had a fraction of a soft side to him.

“So… is he just all suit? I mean, does he have powers like me or is it just the suit?”

“Wow; have you lived underneath a rock the past year?”

“Actually, smart ass; in space…” she smirked.

“… Really?”

“It’s my home, now. Has been for a couple of years, now.”

“Oh. Well… I know that you’ve noticed that glow in the middle of his chest…”

“Yeah; been meaning to ask about that…”

 “It’s what powers the suits. We kind of joke and say that it’s his heart now… which can almost be taken literally.” James explained lowly. Her eyes widened at his words. She looked over at where Tony, Ramil and Ashley were doing light training.

“You saying… he ain’t got no heart?!” her words made him cringe.

“No one cares that you speak like that…?”

“… Like what?”

“Forget it! Anyway; it’s called an arc reactor. About a year ago, we were in Afghanistan, testing out a missile. Call him what you want but the man is dedicated to anything that his company makes…”

“He had to see to things personally…” she realized. James nodded but his expression quickly turned to one of guilt.

“I… I should’ve stayed with him. We were leaving the test site in different hummers… his was ambushed. Before we could turn around and retaliate, the terrorist group had already captured him and fled. He was in a bad way; shrapnel from the attack hit him in the chest.”

“Jesus; how did he survive…?” her voice lowered. She studied him, now as Ramil and himself sparred with one another.

“He explained it to me but… I’m not a genius like he is! Someone else was there with him, put some sort of magnet in his chest to keep the shrapnel from getting to his heart. They needed him alive so that he could make them a missile. The man was running off a generator… it was needed to power up that magnet.”

“Shit…”

“Yeah. Long story short, he ended up making a makeshift suit to escape; destroyed their base and everything. I finally found him roaming the desert. We got back here, he updated the reactor, his company stopped producing weapons and he created what you see here.”

“Wow! He’s been through a lot…”

“Yeah. And… since you live out in space, you probably don’t know that the government wants his armor…”

“… What?!”

“And, here you are, making them indestructible…” he looked at her. She returned the stare.

“What you saying; that I was sent here by the government…? I was doing this as a favor for a friend!”

“No; I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you. I just found it slightly ironic of your timing. The two of you do incredible work…” he gazed at the black and grey armor. She took notice and slightly nodded.

“James… do you like his suits?” she pried. He slightly shrugged.

“I won’t lie; it’s the best thing that he’s ever created. I’ve seen it in action; it’s no wonder the government wants them.”

“But… do **you** want one?” she gave him a look, waiting for his response. He returned her gaze.

“What are you getting at?”

“Why would he make so many different armors? You’d think that if he’s such a great engineer, the only thing he’d have to do is just… continue to modify the one suit, right? He knows what I can do; all he had to do was let me upgrade one of the suits and be done with it. But, I’m upgrading **all** of ‘em!”

“Maybe he’s using them for different circumstances…”

“Or maybe… he’s making them different for different folks…”

“Let’s say you’re right. How would someone else work the suits? His arc reactor powers the suits; he and the armor are one.” James pointed out. Tabitha studied the armor that she was working on and smiled.

“I ain’t the sharpest knife in the drawer… but I do know a few things! I noticed that this suit… don’t need his reactor; it’s got one built in, already…”

“… Really…?”

“It’s the only suit that does. Let’s see; he just met me and Pepper don’t look like she’d do the superhero stuff… this is your suit, James…”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because… he’s your friend…”

* * *

The three completed their work ahead of time to Tony’s delight. He was so impressed with their work, he invited them to stay for his birthday party. Had James not told the story of how Tony came to be, Tabitha would’ve declined, as Ramil and Ashley did. However, she was even more curious about the arc reactor… as well as her theory about the extra armors; she wanted to get a chance to talk about both to him.

She was slightly disappointed as James and herself sat away from the crowd that begged for Tony’s undivided attention; he had given her the run-around and never wanted to talk about anything that she found was important. She sighed and shook her head as she watched him; he insisted on enjoying himself in one of his modified armors sans his helmet. She wasn’t used to seeing anyone drink as heavily as he did; her forehead wrinkled at the fact that he was on his eighth stiff drink.

“That ain’t healthy… or safe, is it?” she noted. James shook his head.

“That’s Tony for you! By the way… you look nice tonight.” he surprised her. She blushed as she sipped her champagne. She hadn’t packed for a night on the town; her wardrobe was work-related: t-shirts and jeans. She couldn’t imagine what James was seeing that was different about her, aside from the t-shirt head wrap.

“Um… thanks?”

“… Anyone in space missing you?” she smirked at his boldness. The thought made her blush even more.

“Uh… yeah, actually.”

“So, Tony **was** right! He said that he’s an alien…”

“Martian!” Tabitha rolled her eyes and laughed. James chuckled slightly but then gave her a look.

“Wait… Martian? As in…”

“Yes; the one who rehabbed me…” she slightly sighed out.

“How did that happen?”

“I don’t know; it just… did.”

“Hmm. He’s lucky…”

“He’s also a mind reader so watch what you think!” her words made him straighten up and stare at her.

“Wait… he doesn’t have to be here to read minds?!” his shocked expression made her laugh aloud.

“Nope. He don’t have to know you or have ever even seen you before to do it. Oh… and he **could** be here; he’s a shape shifter, too!”

“Holy… makes it hard to cheat!” he laughed and shook his head, “So, I’m getting you in trouble by just talking to you!”

“What? No! He’s… not like that… I don’t think…” she wanted to giggle thinking that J’onn would ever get jealous, “Anyway; I wouldn’t think of cheating…”

“Is it serious, then?” his question made her think back to her time-traveling adventure. According to that scenario, it definitely was serious between the two. She remembered her words about the Martian being able to read minds and immediately stopped thinking about the secret mission, smiling down at her glass.

“I would think so…”

“You ‘think’ so?”

“I mean, if you’re asking if he proposed or something like that, no. But, that ain’t on my mind right now. We’re still tryna figure out how to tell the others about us…”

“Wow; no one knows?!”

“Only my best friend, the two that were with me this whole week, Mr. Stark and you. Oh, and one Justice League member. Being a superhero has its disadvantages…” she realized sadly.

“Why do it, then, if you have to keep it secret?” he asked. She leaned back in her seat and thought about his question.

“Is Mr. Stark and Pepper seeing each other?”

“It’s… kind of hard to say. You see it wanting to happen but then… Tony will be Tony…”

“Since he’s told everyone that he’s Iron Man, how many times has she been kidnapped or threatened?” she wanted to know. It was James’ turn to lean back in his chair to think. He slowly nodded and looked at her.

“Good point…”

“The worst thing a villain can do is hurt the one you care about…” her words made her think back to two instances. When Joker took Ethan hostage and called her out; he knew what to do to attempt to grab her attention. Had Bruce told her, she knew that she wouldn’t have thought twice about saving him, herself. The other instance was when she was terrorized briefly by J’onn’s twin brother. She knew that the Martian was going to do anything to get her out of harm’s way; if that meant succumbing to the very virus that killed off his race, he was willing to do it. Another thought had crossed her mind; she knew that Ma’alefa’ak had terrified her… she couldn’t put her finger on exactly **why** she was too afraid to continue her attack on him…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a series of drunken cheering. Both put their attention towards the front of the room, where Tony was standing beside the deejay’s booth, grabbing a microphone.

“Oh, hell…” James sighed. Tabitha shook her head but laughed a little.

“It’s his birthday; let ‘em have some fun!”

“Thank you for coming to celebrate with me. I know most of you are wondering how I go to the bathroom in the suit…” he drunkenly announced. Tabitha raised an eyebrow and had to admit that she wondered the same. He closed his eyes for a moment, slightly wobbled and a sign of relief flushed across his face, “Like that!”[1] he continued and the crowd roared with laughter. Tabitha widened her eyes.

“Oh… my… God… did he just really…”

“I really don’t want to know right about now!” James rushed, shaking his head. Tony’s antics prompted Pepper to appear and attempt to scold him.

“They act like my mom and dad…” she didn’t know why it warmed her slightly, “You know; without all the drinking!”

“Your dad embarrasses your mom a lot?”

“No… he just does shit that makes her fuss at him!” she smiled. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a blast; her instincts made her dive towards James and cover him on the ground.

“What the hell…” was his muffled response. She quickly looked around and noticed that Tony’s arm was extended out towards what used to be the door.

“Sorry; you alright?”

“I’m fine. You would’ve made one hell of a combat buddy…” he smirked at her.

“Oops…” Tony drunkenly smirked. Instead of the partygoers becoming intimidated, they began to cheer.

“Blast this!” one drunken woman yelled and threw a vase in the air. Tony shrugged and extended his arm out once more, exposing the proton blaster in his suited glove. A light blue repulsor ray shot out and hit the vase, shattering it into pieces above the partygoers’ heads.

“Okay; that **definitely** ain’t safe!” Tabitha got up from the floor. James followed her as they approached Tony.

“I think that’s enough!” James threatened.

“He’s right, Mr. Stark; you’re gonna seriously hurt someone…”

“Dawling! You know, I really love your accent; get up here and show them what **you** can do!” he tried to pull Tabitha beside him.

“Mr. Stark!” she snatched away from his grasp.

“Oh, don’t be shy; hit me with that lightning of yours!”

“You’ve had enough fun for tonight; don’t drag her into this!” James gently pushed Tabitha out of the way so the two men were nearly face-to-face.

“I **really** think you’re out of your league, ‘soldier boy’!” Tony actually laughed, pointing his proton blaster towards James.

“Stop it!!” Tabitha was beyond shocked that he would threaten the lieutenant colonel like he did. However, James didn’t flinch, narrowing his eyes at his friend. His lips formed a thin line before he slowly backed away and stormed off. Her concerned stare for James switched to irate as soon as she laid eyes on Tony laughing. Without thinking, she placed her hands on his chest plate, charged up and gave him a powerful shock, knocking him off his feet. The crowd continued to cheer even as she went after James, following him to the lower level of the home, “James…” she tried however he was too busy fuming to listen to her. He put the access code in to continue beyond the glass shield and continued his aggravated pace towards the back, “James! What you gonna do…?”

“Even the odds…” he finally responded. He suddenly turned to her, “You know… you’re the only one that calls me James… it’s nice to hear that instead of ‘Rhodey’ all the damn time!” he slightly smiled. James approached the grey and black Iron Man prototype armor, “Help me into this…” he ordered. She simply stared at him.

“Do you think it’s worth it…?”

“He said I was out of my league. I want to see what he’ll say after **this**!”

“… I don’t think you’d know how to operate it…”

“I’m a pilot, Tabitha; how hard can it be?”

“James… don’t do this. Let’s just… leave and let ‘em be. He’ll pass out sooner or later…”

“He is going to hurt someone! Do you want that to happen?”

“… No…”

“Then, help me… please? You said it the other day; this is **my** suit.” he slightly pleaded. She sighed and started to help him into the armor.

“ **Don’t** kill him!”

“You think I’m reckless?”

“No but… things can get outta hand quick. I’m coming with you.”

“Fine.” he said as the suit immediately enclosed on him. Moments later, his limbs moved, “Hmm… sensors… they respond to my every move.” he noticed. Tabitha grabbed the helmet and put it over his head. The front shield immediately covered his face and the eye plates lit up white, “Alright; let’s clear the party out!”

When the two made their way back to the party, they saw that Tony was dancing around. Tabitha filled the air with her lightning, drawing the attention of the crowd.

“I’m only going to say this once… get out…”[2] James threatened.

“Yep… you ain’t gotta go home but you gotta get the hell outta here!” she continued to charge up. The partygoers left immediately, leaving only Tony, James and Tabitha.

“Two against one? You two can’t take me on…”

“You’re drunk, Mr. Stark. We don’t wanna hurt you while you’re like this…”

“Really? Oh, dawling… I don’t want to hurt **you**!” he retaliated. Before James could react, Tony released a repulsor ray towards Tabitha. She barely missed getting hit, doing a Lightning Cloud out of the way. She appeared behind Tony, placed her hands on his back and released her lightning, making him stumble to the ground.

“Whoa…” James couldn’t help himself; he noted that she was incredibly quick. It didn’t change the fact that his friend had attempted to hurt her; he stalked him angrily, “You don’t even deserve to wear one of these; shut it down!”[3] he growled at him. Tony wearily got up and sighed.

“Goldstein…”[4] he looked towards the deejay’s booth. The man came out of his hiding spot, peeking slightly over his laptop.

 “Yes, Mr. Stark?”[5]

“Give me a phat beat to beat my buddy’s ass to…”[6] he actually laughed. Tabitha raised her eyebrow at his cockiness however James grabbed him from behind. Without warning, Tony blasted backwards, making both go through the adjacent wall. Tabitha gave an apologetic look towards the deejay and followed the two to the other room. She didn’t know what to do besides make sure that she was careful not to get in the way; the two exchanged each other’s blows, Tony with more strength although he was intoxicated. She realized why; the two hits she delivered to him had charged his suit up… twice. Her lightning would only increase the power within the suits.

As she watched Tony get the upper hand in the fight, she immediately went to James’ side as he was knocked down.

“Tabitha…”

“Relax…” she warned and gave him a shock. With renewed energy, James grabbed Tony and threw him into the ceiling, knocking him into the level upstairs. She continued to follow the two, making sure that neither was injured badly. Another thing that she had to admit was that she did a great job on the armors; as much as they were throwing each other around, going through ceilings and walls, she couldn’t see so much as a dent in either suit.

James proved that although he was a pilot, he was inexperienced in operating the armor; Tony yet again took advantage and slammed him down on the ground, hard enough to go through the floor. Tabitha followed the two, jumping down from the hole they made. When she saw Pepper and Natalie in the corner of the room, her instincts kicked in; she pushed the two towards Tony’s bodyguard, Happy.

“Get ‘em out of here!” she yelled at him. While doing so, she noticed that the crowd that was partying were standing outside, watching the fight through the panoramic window. She went outside and glared at them, “Didn’t we say get the hell on?!” she purposely made sure that the crowd saw the waves of currents flowing around her hands and arms. They immediately ran away from the area, “Damn; do they **want** to get hurt?!” she shook her head in anger. She went back inside to tend to the two men, sighing a bit in relief to see Tony down, looking defeated. Before she could move, he rose his arm up towards James, prompting him to do the same; she held her breath.

“Put your hand down…”[7]

“You think you got what it takes to wear that suit…?”[8] Tony challenged.

“We don’t have to do this.”[9]

“He’s right, Mr. Stark… please…”

“You want to be the ‘war machine’, take your shot…”[10] Tony challenged as he began to charge up. She had to do something, she realized. She made her move right as the two proton beams connected; her plan was to push Tony out of the way. Tabitha hadn’t planned on the force of the beams knocking both men back; she was thrown back into the wall along with Tony.

He saw it in a split second and gathered his senses quickly.

“No… Tabitha!” he yelled. James hurried over to where the two had crashed into the wall, quickly moving Tony out of the way. Her breathing shallow and her body battered, he gently scooped her up. He took to the sky, hoping that their antics hadn’t cost her life.

* * *

She awoke with a start and immediately wished she hadn’t; her entire body throbbed with pain. She let her eyes adjust and saw that she was in a room; the hospital, she realized. She looked towards her right and sneered at the IV in her arm. As she calmed down, she started to feel a bit better, letting out an exasperating sigh. What happened, she tried to think. She moaned as she tried to sit up, debating on snatching the IV out of her arm as she lightly fiddled with it.

“H-Hey… don’t do that…” a familiar and concerned voice came at her from her left. She quickly turned and was looking into James’ brown eyes. He slightly smiled, “You are one tough cookie!”

“Tell me something I don’t know… like, where am I…” she croaked out.

“Base hospital; I didn’t know where else to take you.” he tried to explain. He helped her sit up in the bed and gave her water for her throat.

“What the hell happened? Why do I feel like I went through a concrete wall?!” her questions spewed out after she wetted her throat.

“People feel like that when you get a guy in a metal suit slamming into you… going through a wall!” he tried to make light of the situation. He was amazed that she had survived the collision; anyone else probably would had died. When she smirked at him, he returned the smile.

“How long I’ve been here…?”

“A little over a day. They… noticed how advanced your body is and wanted to do some tests… but I talked them out of it; told them that your ‘condition’ was top secret.”

“Thanks…” she said, sincerely; the last thing she needed was to be treated like some lab rat.

“I’m so sorry, Tabitha. I never meant for you to get hurt…”

“It’s alright… I guess…” she slowly shook her head. She knew it was her fault for attempting to meddle; all she had to do was stand out of the way. However, they had already destroyed half of Tony’s home; she had enough of the uncalled destruction. She suddenly looked at him, “James… where’s your suit?” she asked. He opened his mouth to speak but then turned towards the wall.

“I… turned it in… sort of…”

“You did **what**?! James! That was **your** suit!”

“And, it’s still my suit. It’s just government property as well.”

“I can’t believe you. You **know** what’s gonna happen! They won’t be satisfied with you being in control of the suit; they’re gonna take it and make copies! Is that what you want? Because you got pissed off at a friend?!”

“You could’ve been killed; he could’ve injured other people!”

“I can take care of my damn self! And I took care of everyone else when you two didn’t give two shits who got in the way!” she fumed. She looked angrily at her IV, “Get me a nurse or doctor or someone who knows how to take this shit off of me…”

“Tabitha… what else was I supposed to do?”

“Act like a fucking grownup! You really want me to try to pull this out myself?!”

“What are you doing…”

“Getting the hell outta here…”

“Tabitha…”

“Don’t try to stop me; I’m either getting outta here the easy or the hard way…” she glared at him. He let out a huge sigh and called for a doctor. He gave her a sympathetic look.

“I really don’t want you upset with me. But… this couldn’t be helped. He’s out of control.” he stopped speaking when she glared at him yet again. He didn’t know what else to say to make her understand his actions; his best bet was to simply be quiet and let her leave.

* * *

She was upset with both men however, she felt that Tony at least deserved to know what his supposedly friend had done. When she went by his home, she realized that either he was wealthier than she expected or what happened the night before was commonplace; there were no signs of the fight between the two. An apologetic yet frustrated Pepper found his coordinates for Tabitha and she found him at a local donut shop… still in his Iron Man suit. She sighed as she approached him and noticed that he wasn’t alone. Sitting across from him was Natalie and a dark brown man. When Tony’s attention went to Tabitha, the two turned to look at her.

“Dawling!” his teasing made her jaw slightly twitch. She gave him a quick narrow stare and put her attention towards his company. Looking at the older man, she knew how others felt when they stared at her snow-white hair; the man was wearing an eye patch. She couldn’t help but to wonder what he had gone through to have to wear it however she kept her thoughts to herself as she gave them a dry smile; she was still sore from the ordeal she had gone through.

“Natalie…” she nodded.

“Natasha.”

“… no, it’s Tabitha…” she gave her a confused look. It was enough to make Tony snort and the other man give her a smirk.

“Natasha is Natalie’s real name. Apparently, she’s a spy; a Russian one at that…” Tony’s words made Tabitha’s eyes widen.

“What the fuck did I miss…”

“Miss Tabitha Lyght. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person…” the older man continued to smirk at her.

“And, you are…?”

“Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Never heard of ‘em…”

“Short for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

“That did… nothing to make me understand… but I’m flattered that I’m popular with you guys. Sorry but I was recently put through a concrete wall so I’m a little slow right now…” she finally put her attention towards Tony, “I wanna talk to you… in private.”

“It may have to wait; we’d like to talk to you as well. Please, have a seat.” Nick announced. Tabitha looked at him with a confused look and then looked back at Tony.

“They’re forming a superhero boy band…”[11] he commented while sipping his coffee. He patted the spot beside him, “Come on; they have good coffee here and I know you love coffee…” he coaxed. She reluctantly sat but looked at the older man.

“Mr. Fury, I already belong to a group of…”

“I know; the Justice League. We have no jurisdiction where Watchtower is so I was unable to talk to you there.” he surprised her. She shot a look over at Tony who shrugged.

“That wasn’t my doing; he knows a lot of things that he shouldn’t know…” he explained. Tabitha slowly nodded as a waitress appeared at their table, “She’ll have a coffee. Cream, sugar?” he asked Tabitha. She looked at the waitress and gave the Japanese woman a polite smile.

“Two creamers, please…” she said and took notice of the woman’s nametag: Hino Rei. Where had she heard that name before? The waitress smiled back at Tabitha, refilled everyone else’s beverages and left the table. Tabitha racked her brain as to why the woman’s name looked familiar. She sat straight up and quickly looked at the waitress once she realized, who was towards the kitchen area.

“ _J’onn! What are you doing here?!_ ”

“ _… How did you figure it out…?_ ”

“ _The Lindseys are anime fanatics; I learned a **little** something while I was there! Hino Rei, Rei Hino… Sailor Mars…_ ” she smiled to herself; she was actually elated that she had guessed right. She looked over and warmed up at the returning smile.

“ _I was worried when I tried to contact you and received no response; I sensed that you were injured…_ ”

“ _Hmm… a dollar past and a day short you are, hon…_ ”

“… _I believe the saying is a day late and a dollar short…_ ”

“Are you… flirting with the waitress? Dawling, I didn’t know you swung that way!” Tony’s voice startled her. Blushing, she looked at the three and shook her head.

“N-No! She’s… not who you think she is… a-anyway; you said you wanted to talk to me. I ain’t joining your group, just to make things clear…” she warned.

“You may have no other choice, once you hear what I have to tell you…” he retaliated. She gave him a look.

“ _Do you know what he’s talking about?_ ”

“ _I just now found out. For what it’s worth, I apologize…_ ”

“Operation: Recharge was an S.H.I.E.L.D. beta project, an old one. We were attempting to copy the success of the ‘Super Soldier Serum’; our version would be able to give elemental super abilities to test subjects along with super strength, accelerated healing and super speed. You **are** familiar with Steve Rogers…?” Nick tried. Tabitha slightly nodded.

“Captain America; he helped us out against the Germans in World War II. Wait… I’m like Captain America?!” she widened her eyes.

“Yes and no. The project had dangerous side effects and was eventually shelved; put away until technology would catch up to improve it. We found out too late that a scientist had stolen the beta formula.” he finished explaining. It was enough for Tabitha to slowly sit back and shake her head.

“You mean to tell me that the son-of-a-bitch wasn’t even a real general…” she slowly began to fume.

“ _Remember your breathing…_ ”

“Gary First was an extraordinary scientist… but he had mental issues. The one thing that was agreed on was that the serum wouldn’t be used on every single person; just a small select few. He wanted to turn every single military personnel into a ‘Super Soldier’ variant.” Nick said. Tabitha sat there, arms folded across her chest, shaking her head.

“What do you want from me?”

“Two things, actually. Mr. Stark knows about the ‘Avengers Initiative’…”

“Superhero boy band…” Tony mumbled.

“We would like for you to consider it, both of you. And, seeing that you’re the sole survivor of the beta program… we would like a sample of your DNA…” his last words made her glare at the two.

“What?! No! **Hell** no!! I ain’t gonna be responsible for another plague of fucking white-haired kids! Fuck that; I don’t care **what** government agency you’re from!”

“You are a valuable asset to your country, now Miss Lyght.” Nick tried. She rose from her seat but shook her head.

“No… I’m just another test subject to you; I’m a valuable asset to the Justice League, now!” she mentioned and turned to leave. She was stopped by J’onn who was still shape shifted as the waitress. He gently grabbed her hand.

“Trust me; no one is taking you anywhere… if **I** have anything to say about it…” he threatened, looking dead at Nick.

“Um… a little too much testosterone in your diet, miss…?” Tony tried. It was enough to make Tabitha slightly smirk.

“J’onn J’onzz; Tony Stark, Natal… Natasha, Nick Fury.” she introduced.

“J’onn J’onzz? As in…”

“Shape shifting, alien boyfriend J’onn J’onzz…” Tony finished for Nick.

“Martian…” both Tabitha and J’onn corrected; he continued to look at Nick, “As far as attempting to make her join… that conversation is now over…” he clarified. Nick uneasily cleared his throat and looked Natasha’s way.

“Fine. But, I guarantee that we’ll see each other soon, Miss Lyght.”

“No, we won’t. If I see anyone who even looks like a S.H.I.E.L.D. employee or agent or whatever… I’m shocking ‘em to high hell!”

“Tabitha…” J’onn warned.

“I will… you two included…”

“You think you would get away with attacking us…?” Natasha asked with a slight smirk.

“Honey, all the spy techniques in the world won’t stop you from getting electrocuted! You **really** wanna see how fast I can do it?”

“She’s really fast…” Tony nodded in agreement. Natasha pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Tabitha. Nick nodded politely as the two got up and left. J’onn shook his head.

“Why do you insist on taunting people?”

“It’s the only way to get the point across…” she sighed.

“You know; it’s a bit unnerving to look at you and hear you speak…”

* * *

In the comfort of Tony’s labs, J’onn examined Tabitha, paying close attention to her bruises. He shape shifted back to his normal form, making Tony blink a few times.

“Hmm… not what I was expecting for you to look.” he commented. J’onn ignored him as he ran a finger gently across a bruise on Tabitha’s forehead, making her completely flustered, “Oh… is it happening now? Like, right now…?” Tony’s question drew their attention.

“… What…”

“The Martian sex; are you two getting nasty right in front of me?” his question made her turn completely red as well as gape at him. She was too stunned to notice that J’onn only lightly chuckled.

“I assure you that we’re not having sex right now. I prefer physical contact…” he gave her a wry smile as she shot a look his way.

“C-C-Can we just… change the subject?!”

“Yes. Tell me what happened to you…” J’onn grabbed her arm and studied the bruises that ran along it. She sighed and glanced over at Tony.

“Kinda got rammed through a wall… followed by a metal suit…”

“Which I would like to formally apologize for, if I haven’t done so…” Tony quickly added as the Martian slowly glared at him. His look softened as he felt her hand on his chest.

“It’s alright… kinda. I miscalculated; I was tryna stop him and his buddy from tearing up the house... even more. Oh! Mr. Stark… James turned in your grey and black armor…”

“The Mark II. I’m not too worried about it; it was his suit…”

“I knew it…” she beamed, “Look; I’m fine. A bit banged up but it’s okay. I just wanted to know one thing and then we’ll leave: don’t all that drinking affect that thing in your chest…?” she asked him, seriously. Although she was still upset at James for turning in the armor, the one thing that she agreed with him on was that Tony was out of control. The man shrugged slightly as he went through a chest.

“Before, I didn’t care…”

“… Why?”

“… I was dying. The core of the arc reactor is made of palladium…”

“Oh, God; science…”

“Which, from your reaction, you have **no** idea what it is! It was poisoning me…”

“Oh…”

“Still is; it’s just been slowed down drastically so that I can find a replacement element. I found out a lot of things from Nick Fury today. This…” he motioned towards the chest, “Is all that S.H.I.E.L.D. has on my father. He thinks that it’ll help me come up with a solution to my problem.”

“Why not just tell you…?”

“Because Nick Fury is an idiot! I think he knows… but he doesn’t… if that makes sense…”

“Kinda…”

“Maybe we could be of some assistance…” J’onn volunteered.

“See, when he said ‘we’, he really meant him cuz I have **no** clue on this stuff!”

“J.A.R.V.I.S., you don’t mind if the Martian helps us?”

“The more, the merrier, sir…”

“Clever; you named your A.I.”

“ **That’s** what’s been talking to us this whole time?!” Tabitha smiled.

“Clearly, you didn’t fall for her because of her brain…”

“She is intelligent in other aspects…”

“Um… right here, guys… and I can **hear** you!”

The three sifted through the various documents the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had given to Tony. They found out that his father, Howard Stark, was actually the founding member of the organization and that a lot of his creations just needed to wait for technology to catch up. A clue in one of the old film reels led to Tony and J’onn creating a diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo. After getting some rest, Tabitha made her way back down into the lab.

“You’re supposed to be resting…” the Martian mentioned, still studying the diorama. She shrugged.

“I’ve worked on less sleep… which I see that there’s no more work to do…” she looked at the small scaled model, “You should be telling your lab partner to get some sleep…”

“I have tried; he will not listen…”

“We’re not out of the red, yet…” Tony yawned. He studied the model along with the Martian, “There’s something here. Don’t need to rest until I find out…” he continued. She took a seat across the way and idly looked along with the two; she had no idea what they would be looking for in the first place.

“Hmm… maybe if you could get a digital picture of this; could flip it all kinds of ways to see stuff better…” she shrugged. She knew that science was beyond her and was waiting for one of the men to brush her idea aside. However, she became startled when Tony suddenly clasped his hands together.

“You heard the lady!” he announced. J.A.R.V.I.S. scanned the model, producing a holographic image, “Dawling, I would kiss you… if I knew I would live afterwards…” he added when J’onn shot him a look.

“… ‘Dawling’…?”

“Don’t ask…” she huffed. Her exasperation turned into amazement as she watched Tony lift up the hologram away from the model. He turned it a few times and stood it upright, backing away to study it. J’onn followed suit.

“You see that?”

“Yes… I do. An atomic structure…” J’onn noticed. The two took turns analyzing their findings, “Do you have the means to synthesize…?”

“… I can make do. Dawling… you feel up to breaking walls down the right way?”

“Cocked, locked and ready to rock!”

After reconstructing a portion of his home, Tabitha and J’onn helped Tony build a modified particle accelerator, synthesizing the new element in a triangular case. Tony carefully removed the case and placed it inside of a spare arc reactor. Moments later, a confirmation was made that the element was accepted as the core of the reactor.

“I will run diagnostic tests now, sir.”[12] J.A.R.V.I.S. informed. After the tests were ran, Tony grabbed the new arc reactor and looked at Tabitha.

“I would ask if you would like to do the honors but…”

“… I’d be honored…”

“Really? I thought all this ‘science stuff’ was beyond you…”

“I’m good at making things work; not good at explaining **how** it works: I’ll leave that to you and J’onn!”

“I’ll talk you through it, then…”

“Am I gonna be dealing with a lot of wires and stuff?”

“Highly possible.”

“Then… I can make sure that they never fray on you. Seeing that it’s keeping that shrapnel away from your heart… I think you’d like that peace of mind…”

“Actually… I would. Work your magic, dawling!”

* * *

Tony and J’onn shook hands while Tabitha and Pepper did the same.

“To be honest with you… I don’t know how to thank you two.”

“I’m just relieved that the poison’s gone. Maybe you won’t be so reckless, now?” Tabitha eyed Tony, who smirked.

“Me, reckless? When did that ever happen…?” he asked and the women chuckled.

“You know… deep down, I guess you’re an okay guy, Tee…”

“Tee?”

“If ya gonna call me dawling all the damn time, I get to call you Tee!”

“Fair enough…” he agreed. Tony handed her a glass case that contained his old arc reactor and an envelope. She narrowed her eyes at the paper.

“Is this money? Cuz, if it is, I ain’t accepting it…”

“What? No! It’s a card…”

“Tee…”

“A thank you note! For God’s sake; take it and get out of here! I’m pretty sure you have some Martian sex to catch up to…”

“Oh… my… God…”

She waited until she was back on Watchtower to open the envelope. Just as she had suspected, there was a check inside of the envelope. What she didn’t expected to see was the amount; a quarter of a million dollars! She shook her head at the check and pulled out the note that came with it; at least he didn’t lie to her, she figured:

 

_Thanks for your help, again, “darling”! I know that I got a bit carried away at my party and just wanted to let you know that I never meant to put you in any physical danger. Give the Martian my thanks as well (I have no clue on how to spell his name…). Whenever Rhodey decides to come around and start speaking to me, again, I’ll let you know. If there’s anything you ever need, don’t hesitate to call me. And, by the way… deposit the damn check: you deserve every penny of that and then some!_

* * *

[1]-[10] Taken from Iron Man 2 motion picture

[11]Paraphrased from Iron Man 2 motion picture. Stark actually says that he doesn’t want to join his superhero boy band.

[12] Taken from Iron Man 2 motion picture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A little "whoopsie" moment: Tabitha mentions that this is the first time she worked with metal. I meant to have her clarify the type of metal and not metal in general. Yeah... whoops! LOL*


	19. Mastermind

He studied the still frame photo, his eyes more on the white-haired woman in the scene than on the others.

“Hmm… this is someone new…” Lex Luthor stated as he put more focus on the woman. Who was she and why was this the first time he had took notice of her? He, of course, recognized in condescension the rest of the superheroes: Batman, Martian Manhunter, Flash and Superman. A new member, he pondered to himself. He had a sudden urge to know more about the new member; the only place that he knew where to start would be Cadmus headquarters.

It was an actual government project starting off; Cadmus was created as a safety measure just in case the Justice League ever decided to go rogue. When Superman had become brainwashed by Darkseid, a god monarch of the planet Apokolips, to invade Earth, quite a few civilians supported the reason for the project’s existence. Initially, the project was to come into effect if the Man of Steel was to go rogue once more however it was extended to the rest of the Justice League, mainly the founding members. The project turned establishment was founded and heavily funded by Lex Luthor, himself however none of the superheroes had any reason to believe that Cadmus existed outside of light rumors.

To avoid any speculations and criticism, Luthor appointed Amanda Waller director of the project; she was mainly responsible for obtaining any and all information about anyone with mutant powers. As he simply showed her the photo, pointing to the woman with the snow white hair, she went to one of the computers in the research lab.

“Why don’t I know who she is…” he asked with a hint of anger brewing on the tip of his tongue.

“We don’t have much information on her. She’s one of the newest members. What we’ve seen so far is that her ability is lightning-based…”

“Tell me this isn’t the first time she’s been seen out and about.” he was curious still as to why it was the first time she was brought to his attention.

“She doesn’t come out often. Looks like whenever she does, the Martian puts her with a few of the main seven.”

“So… either he doesn’t trust her or he’s being overly protective of her…”

“And, if he didn’t trust her, she wouldn’t be there.”

“Hmm… either way, there must be something about her. Do you at least have a name?”

“Some witnesses have heard them call her Tabitha…”

He knew that his research using only the name Tabitha would lead him nowhere. Instead, he narrowed his search to super heroines with lightning powers and white hair. He came up with two possible leads but nixed the one about the mutant who could control all of the weather elements. That left him with an interesting story based out of New York; a group of white-haired teenagers were terrorizing the city with their lightning abilities. Their leader, Alpha was apprehended by Spider-Man and sentenced to serve time in Bellevue. There were quite a few pictures of the webbed crusader, however, only one sparked Luther’s interest: the one with him posing with the white-haired woman. Her outfit was different but he knew she was the “Tabitha” he was searching for. On a whim, he immediately booked the next flight out to New York.

* * *

As Gary was escorted to the visiting room, he couldn’t help but to wonder who would want to visit him. He shook the idea that it may be the former Sgt. Lyght; the last time they had come face-to-face, she nearly electrocuted him. He was slightly amused to see a sharply dressed, bald man waiting patiently for him. The guards handcuffed Gary to the chair despite the strange look he was giving his visitor.

“I… don’t know this guy…”

“Of course you don’t, Mr. First.” Lex slightly smiled at him.

“Who are you?”

“Let’s just call this a government visit. I would like to talk to you… privately.” he steadily looked at the guards. They glanced at each other and then looked back at Lex, slowly shaking their heads, “He’s handcuffed in his spot; what harm could he do…?” he flashed his Cadmus badge. They sighed, reluctantly leaving the two men alone, “I feel that you’d talk more freely with them gone. Tell me about her…” he placed the photo of Tabitha in front of Gary. His initial reaction was that of fear but as he studied the picture more, he slowly smiled.

“Staff Sergeant Tabitha Lyght…”

“Hmm… a fitting name for her. Did you create her like you created those teens?”

“No… not purposely, anyway. She was… a mistake. A glorious one, though…” he remembered fondly. No one wanted to hear about his achievements ever since he became incarcerated; Gary started to warm up to the stranger. It was then that he realized that the man hadn’t asked about anything **he** did; he was more interested in Tabitha, “Why do you want to know about her…?”

“Call me curious. My agency needs to keep information on these… superheroes…” he slightly cringed at the word, “She’s fairly new and no one knows anything about her… except for you.”

“I… don’t feel comfortable talking to you about her…”

“Really? You were more than comfortable creating an antiserum to ward off her attacks…”

“… That was done as a safety measure. There were teenagers who had her powers under my care.”

“You don’t have to justify anything to me, Mr. First. I just want to know more about her.”

“… What’s in it for me?” Gary continued to look at the picture. Lex laughed heartedly.

“I was wondering when the subject would come up! I came here prepared, Mr. First; how about an early release for improved mental stability?” he tried. He had done his homework; he knew that the once ionized man was going to be locked up in Bellevue for a long time. He needed him, but not at the moment; he wanted to make sure that Gary First was in the right state of mind.

“How early?”

“You start taking your meds, start improving on your health… and we’ll talk how early. Now… can you tell me more about Miss Lyght?”

His next stop was across the two bridges towards Gotham. The institutionalized man couldn’t tell him much as far as her whereabouts but he found more pictures of her roaming the dark streets of Gotham; he figured that he would find more information there. After some risky probing, he finally started to get something from the locals.

“Her? Yeah… she scares me. Anyone who can hit you with lightning like that and don’t blink? Almost wanna make an honest man outta ya! Ain’t it enough we got that bat freak around?!”

“Glad she’s gone; now all we gotta worry about is Batman…”

“Oh… the lightning chick? She’s hardcore! Watched her go berserk on my boss quite a few times. Just to think; if she was on **our** side? Ha; Batman wouldn’t stand a chance!” he was glad to have found someone who had more information to give out. Lex slightly smiled at the thug’s words.

“Really? Who is your boss?”

“Can’t say, really. That type of info will cost ya!” the man rubbed his chin and gave him a sly smile. Lex could only return a smirk as he pulled out a few hundred dollar bills. The thug counted the money and whistled, “You’re trying to get yourself shocked! But, hey; it’s your funeral! A select few of us work for Joker. Can’t say that he’s an easy one to get in contact with; you don’t contact them, they contact you!”

“… ‘They’…?”

“Got his girlfriend doing all the messaging for him; she dishes out the, uh… ‘job details’.”

“I’m hoping that I paid you enough to get the word out that I want to talk to the two…” he slightly narrowed his eyes at the thug. He counted the money yet again and nodded.

“Let’s see what I can do…”

He was glad that he didn’t have to wait much longer; the thug escorted him personally to one of the hideouts of Joker’s: an abandoned toy factory. While he didn’t get to meet the Clown Prince in person, he was greeted by his self-made assistant/girlfriend, Harley Quinn. He was used to provocative women so she didn’t draw his attention as a whole. Lex admitted that her outfit was unique, wearing a modified dark blue and red boyfriend cardigan with four brown straps starting right below her breasts going down to her stomach to hold the shirt in place. The cardigan spanned past her thighs in four slits that each ended in four dull gold jester balls. The only other thing she wore were dark blue panties, blue and red thigh-high leggings and black boots that reached up to her shins. He smirked at her two ponytails, dyed perfectly on each side, red and black, with a green streak on the right side. Her blue eyes sparkled underneath her black mask despite carrying two pistols. It didn’t bother him too much; if she wanted to kill him, she would’ve done so by then.

Their conversation was short and he was glad, to the point; he found out almost everything he wanted to know about the mysterious lightning woman. After hearing about how powerful she could get, Lex came to the conclusion that he needed a way to get in contact with Tabitha Lyght without going through the Justice League; he was pretty sure that the founding members would nullify those plans if they had found out. The one thing that stuck out in his mind was that the thug was on to something: she would probably be better off without the superheroes. Because of the potency of her abilities, he knew that the Justice League, the Martian Manhunter in particular, was keeping her on a short leash in space aboard Watchtower. He hoped that Joker would be able to produce what he really wanted.

* * *

He had enough. He had enough of running from everything; he was simply tired. Ethan took it as somewhat of a sign that the word on the street was that Joker was looking for him. He didn’t know what for; he didn’t know if he even wanted to see Joker again. The demented clown had tortured him, injured his psyche so badly that… he understood him. He may not had agreed with the way Joker did things but he knew that there was a reason for it. At first, he wanted to kill him, kill everyone who had hurt him mentally. However not all of his soul had been damaged; Ethan wasn’t **that** cruel. As he made his way into the abandoned joke toy store, he told himself that he wouldn’t hurt anyone… unless he was provoked.

He was a bit surprised to see the delusional girlfriend; he had heard how Joker treated her and wondered why she stuck up for him. However, Ethan had to admit that the two were actually a well-matched couple; both were insane and deadly. He stood his ground as she smiled and approached him.

“What do you want? Where’s Joker?”

“Mr. J’s busy at the moment…” her overdrawn accent told him that she was from across the bridge rather than Gotham, “I’m here on his behalf! He wanted to extend his deepest apologies.”

“Yeah, right…”

“It’s true! You know… you were never the real target. He was after your girlfriend the whole time…”

“She **isn’t** my girlfriend, anymore…” he tried to put as much emphasis as he could on the entire sentence. Harley cocked her head to the side and made a thoughtful sound.

“You miss her, don’t ya…?” she tried. He quickly looked away and took a deep sigh.

“What is it to you…?”

“I know true love when I see it! Look; I know that Mr. J don’t like the broad; she’s too much of a showboat. He’s glad she’s out of his hair! I… kinda liked her… she kept him on his toes, you know?” she admitted. Ethan could only nod, trying to ignore the pain in his heart. They had agreed to go their separate ways, partly because he had this gnawing feeling that he would turn rogue. It didn’t change the fact that he didn’t want to let her go and missed her with every passing day, “So… I wanted to give her a little farewell present but… I think she would throw it away if I gave them to her. Maybe you could take the credit for it…?” she tried again. He widened his eyes at her.

“What do you take me for, a fool?! Why would I give her **anything** from either of you?!” he snapped. Harley put a frown on her face, showing him three small bottles.

“We’re letting bygones be bygones, here! Look…” she opened one of the bottles and took a deep whiff of its contents. She did the same to the other two and looked at Ethan, “See? Nothing wrong with ‘em! Want more proof?” before he could agree, she spread a bit of the liquid on her wrist and showed him, “No nasty side effects!”

“What are those?”

“Just a little something that every girl needs; scented oils! I picked them for myself but… my puddin’ doesn’t like the smells. Something about they’re too… domesticated for him…” she slightly frowned. She shook the thoughts out of her head and immediately handed the bottles to Ethan, “An oil warmer and a couple of tea candles and the set’s complete! You can handle that, right?”

“Why… are you doing this…?” he looked at the three bottles.

“I told you why! I’m a sucker for true love; everyone deserves their happy ending…” she gave him a more serious look. He couldn’t help but to think that there was a hint of sadness in her blue eyes; she really was sort of normal: all she wanted was to be loved… normally. The look quickly left as she slightly giggled and turned to leave.

He sighed as he looked at the massive door in front of him; it was now or never. As he waited for someone to open the door, he repeatedly told himself that this was the right thing to do. He had to get his life back on track and stop running away. He was surprised that it was Bruce and not Alfred who opened the door. His eyes widened at the sight of his old friend.

“Ethan!” he actually had a sense of panic boil over. However, the look on his friend’s face wasn’t of vengeance but… weariness. He sighed and just looked at him.

“I’m… turning myself in…”

Ethan was glad that the two sat and talked before being taken into custody. Bruce noticed the gift bag and slightly smirked.

“Trying to butter me up with a gift?” he asked, making him lowly chuckle.

“I have a favor to ask; could you… give this to Tabby? How is she, by the way?”

“She’s… happy…” he had to admit. While he still didn’t like the fact that she had all but stopped going on missions altogether… or the fact of who she was dating, he noticed that she was indeed happy, overall. Ethan nodded.

“That’s good to hear; really, it is. Just… tell her that I’m sorry and happy birthday.”

“What… her birthday’s coming up?”

“Wow… what kind of friend are you?” a hint of a smile played on his lips. Bruce let out a small laugh.

“Kind of been busy, if you haven’t noticed! I’ll make sure she gets it…”

* * *

Why had it been so long, she wondered as she walked inside the training area. With everything that happened to her, Tabitha made the decision to relieve some stress and workout, finally. She knew that training was a vital part of being a Justice League member however she never found the time to do so. She knew that she needed to start making the time before the Martian tried to lecture her about it!

She had her hopes set on finding either Diana or Shayera working out; she was in the mood to torture herself! However, she slightly frowned that there were no women in sight. There were a few members on the treadmills towards the back of the area and two taking turns spotting each other on the bench press machines towards her right. To her left was the training boxing ring and a few punching bags, one being occupied by Wildcat.

Known as Ted Grant outside of the Justice League, he was a prized fighter in his prime. After he was framed for the murder of his mentor, he was forced to step down as a fighter and became a vigilante. She had heard good things about him, especially how he trained several Justice League members in boxing and martial arts, including Bruce and Clark.

He felt someone watching him as he sparred with the punching bag and looked over his shoulder. He gave Tabitha a quick look over before returning his attention back to the bag. He didn’t look as old as she had thought he was; there were random yet small streaks of grey interrupting his curly jet black locks.

“So, you’re the new member…” he almost startled her; she thought that he was ignoring her and was about to leave. She smiled at him.

“Not **that** new; been here for two and a half years, now!” she answered him. He finally stopped attacking the bag, wiping the sweat from his forehead and gave her a thoughtful look.

“You’re the newest member that we have. Let me guess; you want me to train you…”

“Actually… that didn’t cross my mind until now. Not gonna meddle, though; looks like you’re busy…” she started to not like his attitude and wanted to join the others on the treadmills.

“Hold on… you didn’t come over for me to train you?”

“No; just wanted to watch a bit and then workout…”

“Hmm… let me see your fighting stance…” he surprised her. She gave him a look before she shrugged and did what she was asked, “Ah… military, eh?”

“Was…”

“Let’s see what you got, then…” he smiled and approached her. She returned the smile and shrugged.

“Been a minute since I’ve done hand-to-hand. Ever since I became a mutant, I’ve…”

“For God’s sake, woman; don’t use that word!” his tone made her blink at him.

“What… word…?”

“‘Mutant’; it’s degrading…”

“Oh… well… what else am I supposed to call myself? It’s what I am…”

“No; it’s not. You’re a Metahuman.”

“A meta… human?”

“Someone who was born human but gained superpowers. Doesn’t matter if it was by accident or on purpose.” he explained to her. She nodded.

“A Metahuman, then; gotcha!”

“Before we start; what are your abilities?”

“Lightning, really. Super strength, speed and stamina.”

“Don’t use them…” he told her. She gave him a blank stare.

“Wait… what…?”

“You heard me; don’t use them.”

“… None of ‘em?”

“You might can’t help the strength or the stamina. But try not to use your enhanced strength. And definitely nix the lightning and speed!”

“But… it’s all I got…”

“I don’t believe that. Besides; it wouldn’t be fair to me: I don’t have any true Metahuman abilities.”

She found it a true challenge at first not being able to use her abilities. However, with Ted stopping to correct her ever so often, she found that relying on her somewhat natural strength relieved her stress and made her concentrate more. The two were so caught up in their training, they hadn’t noticed that others were watching them.

“She’s not bad…” John commented. The thought made J’onn simply nod. He had seen her fight three times; twice against the simulation program and when she sparred with Diana. All three times had been set up to provoke her enraged state and she had held back against Diana. He was proud to see that although she was learning from Ted, she was giving it as much as she could without using her enhanced abilities.

“She isn’t using any of her abilities, is she?” Diana wondered. Bruce shook his head, a smile playing on his lips as well.

“Maybe a little of her super strength but it’s small. That’s all of her Army training. Not bad at all…” he continued to watch along with the others. Their training session ended when Tabitha forced Ted down to one knee, extending his arm behind his back, painfully stretching his shoulder blade. He let out a low but sharp scowl.

“Nice!” he grunted out. She smiled and let go of his arm, helping him up, “You’re not as rusty as you thought, you know. See how it felt without using any of your super abilities? Most villains will be prepared to deal with that so you **have** to have the element of surprise! Are you ready for your next lesson?”

“Sorry, Ted; her lesson is over with…” J’onn startled the two, “Someone wants their turn to train with her.” he continued. She looked at the group and slowly smiled.

“Oh, yeah? Who?” she had refrained from sounding cocky; she felt pretty confident after taking Ted down without using much of her abilities. Her sly smile disappeared as she noticed that the Martian removed his cape and approached the two.

“Me.” he answered.

“Wait… what?! Uh, no!”

“No? You have no choice in the matter…”

“That ain’t fair and you know it…” she tried.

“How is it not fair? We’re both Justice League members…”

“One, you’re a Martian. Two… you’re Martian Manhunter!”

“You are wasting precious time. _Trust in your instincts…_ ” was the last thing she heard from him before he had charged after her. She was caught off guard and couldn’t respond quickly enough; before she knew it, he had tackled her hard to the ground. She struggled under his weight as he pinned her wrists to the mat.

“ _See; this is what I’m talking about! What you tryna prove?!_ ”

“ _That you’re as strong as anyone else in the room… including myself…”_ he plainly looked at her, “Why aren’t you fighting back?”

“Seriously?!” she grunted.

“ _Stop panicking. Calm down and use your instincts…_ ” he instructed. He was right, she finally thought. While Ted had no abilities, the Martian did… and he was fair game for her to use her abilities. Another thing that she realized; he was highly intelligent: she had to stop worrying about out powering him… and start trying to outsmart him.

She gave him a small smile as she stopped struggling against his strength, quickly charged up and immediately let her lightning loose; the force behind her attack made the Martian let go and fall backwards a couple of feet. He gave her a surprised yet satisfied look.

“Using our powers, are we?”

“I gotta even the odds, right?” she quickly got up.

“She’s right; she has to use her abilities against him. Without them, she’s no match to J’onn…” Bruce thought aloud.

“What if he doesn’t use his…?” Wally looked at him. Bruce smirked.

“Even if he held back at 50%... he would be ten times stronger than her… and that’s a far understatement!”

“I was hoping that we would refrain from using our abilities…” the Martian took to the air. She slightly smirked at him.

“Just using my instincts…” she couldn’t afford to think about her next action; she immediately did a Lightning Cloud towards him. She knew that thinking about what she needed to do would put her at a high disadvantage. When she felt him block her lightning strike, her body nearly bouncing off of him, she quickly formulated a plan. It was more for her benefit than anything; she wanted to see how long she would be able to perform her signature move in the air at a more constant rate.

She had surprised herself at the timing and quickness of her attacks; when she saw that he would block one hit, she delivered another one almost instantly. From where the others were looking on in almost complete shock, there was a constant show of sparks surrounding the Martian, who could only block her attacks. She wasn’t a complete blur as if she was Wally however even **he** had to admit that she was incredibly quick.

While he was impressed at her quickness, he was more overwhelmed by the fact that her hits, even blocked, were stinging him. He wondered if she was putting all of her energy and strength into the punches and tried to go through her mind. The Martian had to admit that it was cheating; he would also probably get a glimpse into her strategy. However, he was surprised when the only thing she was thinking of was one word: faster. Other than that, her mind was completely blank; he couldn’t have been any prouder. He kept his smile to himself as he thought of a way to stop her attacks; they really were starting to hurt him a bit.

“Is that all you gonna do is block?” she taunted between her lightning quick hits. He should’ve been used to her urge to taunt however it slightly saddened him that she showed her overconfidence even towards him; her cockiness knew no limits. It was something that he wanted her to seriously work on; taunting the wrong person could end up deadly.

He knew that it was risky; he immediately found out as he reached out and grabbed her wrist, a surge of electricity traveling up his arm when he did so. However, he knew that he had to do something to stop the all-out assault… as well as teach her a lesson about her cockiness. With ease, his other hand grabbed her ankle and he flung her across the room as hard as he could… forgetting to take into account that although she was a Metahuman, she was still human and he was more powerful than her. He flinched along with the others as she crashed into the wall, wishing that the material was more common rather than reinforced; going completely through it would had been less painful for her. Instead, the impact created a large dent and her body fell to the floor with a flesh-crawling thud.

“Whoa! **Way** too much vigor, green guy!” Wally widened his eyes at the Martian. When she didn’t move from her spot, the group rushed over to her. J’onn silently sighed for relief as she finally started to move slowly.

“ _Oh… my fucking… GOD; did you forget that I was human?!_ ” even her voice inside his head sounded battered. He didn’t care who was there; he made sure that he was the one to attempt to help her up.

“ _I’m sorry; I’m so sorry! I… I actually did for a moment._ I didn’t mean to hurt you; are you alright…”

“NO!” she hissed and winced as the Martian placed his hands on her side, “You tried to put me through a fucking wall!” he sadly noticed that it took a lot for her to speak, let alone breathe, “… Think you… broke a few ribs…” when she had to take breaths between her words and winced, he knew that her assumption was correct, “Like… fifteen of ‘em…”

“Wait… Tabitha… that’s all women have!” Bruce couldn’t help but to smirk; only she would find some way to make the situation humorous! He tried to help J’onn however retracted his hand when she winced yet again and let out an agonizing moan.

“Yeah… feels about… right, then…” she breathed, “Think I’m officially… scared of… walls, now…” she tried. The Martian finally got her on her feet, helping her walk.

“I… am so sorry, Tabitha. I believe… training is over with…”

“Yeah……. for you…” her smile finally crept on her face. Before he could give her a confused look, she gripped the Martian’s shoulder tighter, placed her right leg behind him and gave him a quick sweep to the ground. She immediately got up, placed her knee in his shoulder and prepared to strike, raising her fist and charging it with lightning. His red eyes, full of bewilderment, widened at how quick the turn of events happened.

“You! You were… feigning…”

“Element of surprise…” Ted couldn’t help but to grin at the sight. Her grin widened as she pinned him down with more force.

“Yep! Now… do I really gotta hit you…?”

“Hmm… that won’t be necessary…” she thought he was waving the proverbial white flag; his body was no longer tense underneath her. However, she was taken by complete surprise as he made himself invisible.

“Oh; you cheater!!” she immediately slammed her fist down. Waves of lightning flowed out however not hitting their intended mark. She scrambled to her feet and looked around; he had indeed became invisible. For a quick moment, she thought back to the fight between herself and Ma’alefa’ak; he had become invisible as well and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

“Cheater? I wasn’t the one who faked an injury…” his chuckle filled the room. She tried to turn to it, tried to think of some type of strategy. No; she shook her head: if he was willing to become invisible, he would be willing to go through her mind…

A quick sweep of the feet had her face nearly connecting to the matted floor. She braced her fall and quickly threw lightning in any direction that she could; the group who had been worried about her safety only moments prior all ducked, trying not to get hit.

“I don’t think this is safe, anymore…” Wally slowly looked where his friend was now standing.

“ _Careful…_ ” she couldn’t help that it slightly irritated her that he still chuckled. She narrowed her eyes and continued to look around the room.

“ _Okay, this time, this really ain’t fair…_ ”

“ _Says the one with the phantom broken ribs…_ ” he slightly laughed yet again. She grumbled out her frustrations.

“ _Seriously; you **know** you can’t be touched when you’re invisible! What am I supposed to do?!_”

“ _Are you sure about that notion…?_ ” he left it at that as he tripped her yet again. She jumped to her feet but thought against attacking; she finally realized that it was pointless. She had no choice but to think of how she would be able to make him visible yet again. She quickly scanned the matted floor; maybe she would get a glimpse of his feet imprints? She shook her head slightly; the Manhunter from Mars was too smart for that: he was definitely airborne. That thought only made her grumble more in her mind; now she not only had to worry about his invisibility but his flight as well. One idea was for her to fill the air with her lightning; however she suddenly remembered that she had done the same with his twin brother and it proved to be in vain: she had filled that apartment twice with voltage and it did nothing. Damn; if only Ashley was here to blood bend him, she thought. Or if Ramil was…

She immediately stopped thinking as a slow, wicked smile appeared on her face. The only thing that she had hoped was that he wouldn’t be too upset with her. She glanced towards the treadmills and did a Lightning Cloud towards them, grabbing two towels from the rack on the wall. She placed them in the middle of the room and stood a foot away from them.

“Um…” John furrowed his brow.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell…” Clark shrugged. The group continued to watch as she let all of the tension leave her body, closing her eyes and relaxing. She had a small theory and hoped that it worked; regardless of if he was invisible, he had to make some type of sound before he attacked: she slowed her breathing and tried to concentrate on that.

She knew that her timing would have to be impeccable for her concept to work; she didn’t think that she would have any room for a slipup. She had really hoped that she would be able to hear him if he tried to sweep at her feet once more; she never imagined that she would actually feel him! It was very minute however as she was deep in concentration, she couldn’t shake the feeling; he was coming towards her from her left. No sooner had she felt the slight waft against her shoulder, her eyes popped open and she did a Lightning Cloud towards the towels. Charging up with all of her might and releasing set the towels ablaze, just as she figured it would; J’onn immediately became visible and backed away from the small flames. A wide grin appeared on her face as she charged up yet again and sent waves of electricity his way, bringing him to his knees. Currents of lightning flowed over her arms as she slowly approached him. He looked at her with a slight weariness in his eyes.

“You are two for two today…” the sound of defeat in his voice.

“You ain’t letting me win again… are you…?” she eyed him. The Martian lightly laughed, glaring slightly at the fire in the middle of the room.

“Trust me… I’m not…” he assured. Clark extinguished the flames as Tabitha helped her boyfriend up.

* * *

She walked out of her bathroom, drying her hair and slightly jumped at the sight of the Martian standing in her room. She gave him a smirk.

“Stalker…?”

“Boyfriend…” he quickly narrowed his eyes at her, a glint of laughter in them. She finally laughed as she approached him, giving him a light kiss.

“I see you ain’t mad at me…”

“Should I be? Your mouth always carries a sardonic tone to it…” he looked down at her. She gave him a slight look.

“You know… if ya gonna insult me, could you at least use words I know the meaning of?!” she didn’t know whether to laugh or truly be upset with him. He laughed and moved a few strands of wet hair away from her brow.

“You are very sarcastic with me…”

“I’m sarcastic to everyone… I think…”

“That is true… although I was hoping that I was a special case…”

“I think that considering you’re my Martian boyfriend, you’re **more** than a special case… **way** more!” she laughed. He smiled and nodded.

“If you think that I’m upset about our training session, don’t think that. I took it exactly as what it was; training.”

“Yeah but…”

“I will admit that I am still a bit surprised that you deceived me. However, it was very, very clever of you; it was unexpected. You knew that I would drop my guard if I felt that you were injured in any way…”

“Yeah…” she shyly shrugged.

“I will not fall for it, again.”

“I didn’t really hurt you… did I?”

“I was about to ask the same…”

“Eh… I think I was more shocked that you threw me full force! The wall hurt a bit… but I made the landing sound worse than it really was…” she smiled, a sense of pride going through her that she not only tricked the Martian but the others as well.

“You are taking glory in what you accomplished… in which you should. I am very proud of you, Tabitha. Your lightning strikes… did not go unnoticed.” he slightly smiled, still remembering the stings, “Another thing that stunned me was the use of fire…”

“… I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be. If you’re unable to physically get the upper hand, find their weakness… and expose it.” he kept his smile. She returned one and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

“Rewarding me with some free time, now?”

“Of course. Actually… I was wondering if… you wanted to go out to dinner…” he completely surprised her. She widened her eyes at him.

“Wait… what do you mean…?”

“You know… consume some human food? I don’t know how to make it any simpler…”

“Smart… **ass** ; I know what having dinner is! Are you asking me out on a date, Martian?!”

“Yes, human; I am. Oh; you are to call me by my species but I can’t do the same…?” he looked at her when she flinched, “Why does the idea shock you?”

“Well, let’s see… for starters, going out on dates are for normal couples…”

“We are not a normal couple?”

“No, J’onn; we are definitely **not** a normal couple; nowhere even close! Besides; a date is supposed to be relaxing… and fun…”

“I am fully aware of this…”

“You… don’t know how to do that…”

“I don’t know how to relax or have fun?”

“… Neither one…”

“I take offense to that, Tabitha Lyght…” he stared at her. She knew that she was exaggerating; she knew that he considered playing chess fun. However, she hadn’t expected for him to become offended, “You will get dressed, we will go on a date and I will prove to you that I can relax and have fun.”

She could do nothing but blink as the two made their way inside a restaurant in Metropolis. She could’ve imagined Bruce eating in a restaurant of that caliber, not J’onn. The maître d gave her a subtle look; she was wearing her signature head wrap. When his eyes landed on J’onn, he became all smiles, darting his eyes between the reservation book and the couple.

“Ah, Mr. Jones! Table for two; right this way, sir!” he led the two immediately to a table in the middle of the restaurant. She paid special attention to the table as they sat; a pearl white tablecloth graced the small round table along with what she knew was considered the proper, formal setting for a table: she would ask her question later about why they had so many glasses! It was the centerpiece that grabbed her attention; an arrangement of roses, her favorite flower. She kept her eye on J’onn, who only changed his form to exclude the beetle brow, red eyes and green skin.

“What is it?” he asked when the maître d left them alone, “Is it how he looked at you?”

“No… kinda used to that…”

“You shouldn’t be.”

“I know but that ain’t… isn’t the point. You made reservations?”

“Yes.”

“So, you had this ‘date’ all planned out in advance…?”

“Yes, I did.” he stared back at her, a gleam in his eyes; without going through her mind, he could tell that she was highly impressed. She tilted her head towards the flower arrangement.

“For me?”

“Of course. Let’s just call this an early birthday present.” he smiled at her when her eyes widened at first but then looked down at her plate.

“You remembered…”

“Why wouldn’t I remember my girlfriend’s birthday?”

“… I don’t even know yours… or your age for that matter…”

“We don’t celebrate birthdays…” J’onn shook his head slightly. She gave him a slight smirk.

“So… you saying you’re old…” her words made him sigh slightly.

“By your standards, yes. However…”

“How old are you? On what Earth day were you born? What’s **your** favorite flower?”

“Older than you, I don’t recall and daisies…” his answers made her snort and stifle her laughter.

“And you said **I** had the sarcastic mouth!” she smiled. She warmed up as he grabbed her hand and gently kissed it.

“A taste of your own medicine…” he smiled, “I am five hundred…”

“Five hundred?!”

“… And fifty-three years old, Martians do not take in importance the day of their birth… and I really do like daisies…” he finished lowly, “If it makes you feel better, you can celebrate my birthday at the beginning of the year. Anything else you would like to know?”

“Yeah; when are we gonna tell everyone about us?”

“Tabitha…”

“It’s like… you’re ashamed of me. I know I ain’t the smartest…”

“What? No! I’ve never been ashamed of you, Tabitha… ever. You’re…” he gazed at her. What was stopping him from admitting that he felt that she was perfect? That she was everything that he had hoped to find? That… he loved her, “You mean a lot to me. I’m just not… used to a lot of things…” he tried to explain.

“… You afraid of what everyone else would say…?”

“… Yes. Not that I need their approval; even if they did not agree, it wouldn’t stop how I feel.”

“I think I get it, now. You care what they say but then again… you don’t. It’s like, I care how my mom and dad feel about you; I want ‘em to like you. But, if they can’t or won’t, it don’t matter; as long as **I** like you!” she said. He could do nothing but smile wider.

* * *

She was elated for the day off as she sat down with her plate; she was surprised that the cafeteria staff had prepared her favorite meal; chicken, shrimp and broccoli Alfredo with a side of fries and a vanilla birthday cupcake. She didn’t think that anyone else would remember her birthday and was prepared to spend the entire day in slight solitude. She didn’t mind it; she was never the one to like huge, blown out birthday celebrations. She did have plans on going down to Earth to spend some time with her family and the Lindseys.

She was about to prepare another forkful of food when her tray disappeared. She blinked a couple of times at the empty spot.

“Uh… what…” she wondered aloud. Two more blinks and there was a cake in front of her; a large white icing sheet cake with the words scribbled in yellow: Happy Birthday Tabitha. She couldn’t describe the feeling that coursed throughout her veins; she was utterly surprised that anyone aboard Watchtower, aside from J’onn and maybe Bruce and Wally, would do something like this for her.

The scene quickly changed, with gifts appearing on the table and candles on the cake. She was shocked to see just how many League members had gathered around her to sing happy birthday to her. Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes as she blushed and blew out the candles.

“I… I can’t believe you guys remembered…” she almost choked out.

“All my doing…” Wally boasted, prompting laughter. Tabitha quickly wiped at her eyes and stared at the cake and presents.

“Thanks…”

“Are those tears, Tabitha Lyght…?” Clark studied her face with a hint of a smile.

“W-What?! No!” she quickly answered, “My contacts…”

“Contacts? Really?” John smirked at her. She returned the smirk.

“Not everyone can have sparkling eyes like yours!” she batted her eyes quickly at him, causing him to roll his eyes and laugh.

“Alright, enough talk; cut the cake!” Wally rushed, giving her a knife.

“In a hurry? Wait… forgot who I was talking to…” she shook her head and cut into the cake. She lit up as she removed the first piece, “Marble! How’d you know…?”

“That was my doing…” J’onn confirmed. She shot him a look and blushed heavily.

“You two spend so much time together; you would think that he would know everything about you, right?” Vixen, John’s girlfriend pointed out.

“They’re almost as inseparable as herself and Wally…” Shayera chimed in. Tabitha gave her a look as she gave her a wide grin. She continued to slice her cake, handing out pieces to the members. Her eyes finally landed on the numerous gifts that were on the table.

“A-Anyway… you guys didn’t have to do all this… I would’ve been satisfied with a bunch of cards!”

“We really didn’t know what to give you. But, seeing that we were really busy last year, we had to make it up to you.” Diana confirmed. Tabitha gave her a warm smile that widened as she gave her a small box, “Might as well start opening them, now!”

“Oh… okay…” she put her cake down and opened the box. She removed the gift paper and immediately blushed at the gift, quickly covering it up. The Amazon laughed heartily as she received an embarrassed glance.

“This is the reddest I’ve ever seen you get!” Diana continued to laugh.

“ _What’s wrong? What did she give you?_ ”

“D-Diana!! _No… it’s nothing. A female joke…_ ”

“Hey! No covering it up; let’s see it!” Shayera egged on.

“ _I agree; it couldn’t be that… oh…_ ” J’onn was glad that he was able to keep his composure; with a defeated and definitely embarrassed sigh, Tabitha reopened the gift, revealing a red, lacy lingerie set. The murmurs, laughs and whistles were enough to make Tabitha turn completely red.

“I figured that you would want to wear that for your… ‘someone special’ on your special day!” Diana winked and drew her attention straight to Wally. He gave her a look, raising his eyebrows; Tabitha wanted to hide underneath the table as she even heard J’onn’s chuckle in her head.

“Wait… **what**?! Um… she’s my sister so… eww!”

“ _I can’t wait until you try it on…_ ” his words made her flinch.

“ ** _J’onn!!!_** ”

“ _Boyfriend… remember…?_ ”

“Y-Yeah… ain’t nothing going on with me and Wally, pervert! Thanks…” she mumbled, stuffing the see-through garments back into the box. She looked at Bruce, who approached her with two gifts, “Tryna outdo everyone…?”

“No. This one is from Ethan.” he gave her a delicately wrapped box. She looked at it and back at Bruce.

“What… really…?”

“He would’ve given it to you personally but… he turned himself in. He said that he was sorry and… for you to have a happy birthday.” he explained. She nodded and opened the box, revealing a scented oil gift package. She paid close attention to the three vials of oil: bamboo water, clean linen and rose garden.

“That was… really nice of him…”

* * *

After opening the rest of her gifts and finishing some cake, she thanked everyone and put her gifts in her room. She had an overwhelming sense of belonging; the other League members didn’t have to give her anything, not even a card. However, it thrilled her that quite a few went out of their way to get her something. She reddened once more as she put the lingerie set in the drawer however admitted that she, too couldn’t wait until later that night to try it on for her “someone special”. His gift to her, which caused almost as much commotion as the underwear, were a package of Oreo cookies; even the other members knew that J’onn J’onzz did not share his cookies with anyone! He retaliated simply that it was owed to her… for just that one time!

She made her way idly to the control room, where she knew that a certain Martian would be. He turned away from the center console and looked at her, a hint of a smile playing in his eyes.

“Enjoying your day off?”

“Not really; I’m bored! Figured I could do a little bit of work…”

“No. I gave you the day off for a reason. Maybe you should go and spend the rest of the day down on Earth.”

“By myself?” she tried, folding her arms and looking at him. J’onn gave her a smirk.

“I am tempted to go along with you. However, it’s your birthday… and I’m pretty confident that you’ll be safe around Dr. Lindsey and your family.” he answered. She was about to reply until a minor warning alarm sounded from the console. Without hesitation, Tabitha took over the controls, herself.

“You have two seconds to identify yourself; you do not have clearance on this channel…” she instructed with a strict tone. J’onn looked at her, a feeling of pride swelling in his chest; she had taken over without being instructed to. Her tone was firm and confident, as a Monitor’s voice should be.

“Dawling! I didn’t know you were running the show up there!”

“… Tee? What…”

“Didn’t think that it would be this easy… oh; sorry. Tony Stark requesting to speak with Tabitha…”

“What the hell… **how** did you get access to this channel?!”

“I’m a wealthy, genius engineer; you really had to ask that…? Which reminds me; you might need to update your system: a bit scary how easy it was for me to hack into alien technology…”

“Noted…” J’onn narrowed his eyes.

“John boy! How’s it hanging? Wait; don’t answer that: pretty sure dawling can answer that for you…”

“What do you want?!” Tabitha hissed at him, her cheeks aching.

“Happy birthday, for starters. Now, I will need a list of people who will be joining you in Vegas tonight…”

“Wait… what… Vegas…?”

“… The party was going to be at my place but I didn’t know if all of your super friends would fit. Easier for me to just rent out a casino… or build one for that matter… hmm; Stark Palace…”

“A party?! Hold on…”

“Nope; that’ll have to put on the back burner. Anyway; let me know by seven… no, make that eight-forty-five. Vanilla icing, yellow cake, right? Ah, doesn’t matter; you’ll have your pick of the litter: it’s your birthday, after all! See you tonight, dawling!”

“Wait…” she tried however the transmission ended. She simply stared at the console, “… But… I don’t wanna do nothing big for my birthday…”

Tabitha and Jamila walked inside the casino and was immediately greeted by Tony. He personally escorted the two towards the back to a private area.

“Couldn’t rent out the entire casino but the club and high rollers area is all ours!”

“Um…”

“Dr. Lindsey; nice to finally meet you…”

“Likewise, Mr. Stark!”

“Where’s John boy?”

“… Mission came up…” Tabitha slowly answered, her eyes still affixed on the private club and the setup inside of it.

“Maybe we’ll do something for his birthday. Okay, birthday girl; here’s some chips for the tables, money for the slot machines, unless you want your cake and drinks first?” he asked, giving her a plastic container filled with black, orange and grey casino chips and a bank strap worth ten thousand dollars. Jamila looked at the chips and money and whistled.

“Uh…”

“Tell me you’ve been in a casino before!” Tony raised his eyebrows at her. She continued to look at the items in her hands and shook her head.

“Got it covered, Mr. Stark! Let’s blow some money, Tabs!” the professor guided the awestruck woman towards the slot machines, “Don’t worry about the chips for now; let’s start you off with something easy! Put a few bills in this one; I like the ‘Lucky 7s’ ones…” she sat her friend down in front of a slot machine. Tabitha widened her eyes at the cost.

“Doc! This costs twenty bucks! I get to play all night for that much, right?”

“What?! Wow, no! One **spin** costs twenty bucks!”

“One spin?!?! Holy fucking shit…”

“You sure you’re from Chat Town and not from some farm in the middle of Boon Fuck Egypt?!”

“Look, I ain’t never gambled before! I’ve seen it done in the movies!” she eyed her best friend. Jamila shook her head and sighed heavily.

“Just… match up the images; that’s what you’re looking to get! Damn; knowing your lucky ass, you’d hit after three spins…”

After cashing in her winnings and being treated to cake and champagne, Tabitha joined everyone on the dance floor and finally made her way towards the VIP section. She was surprised at who blocked her way slightly and simply stared at James. He gave her a subtle smile.

“Tabitha…”

“James.” she nodded, “Surprised to see you here…”

“Tony and I made up. I would’ve apologized to you but… well, I don’t have a number to call you…” his flirting only made her roll her eyes.

“Really? You’re going that route when you **know** I’m still pissed at you **and** I have a boyfriend?!”

“Wow, you can hold a grudge…” he tried to lighten the mood. She simply glared at him.

“Move, James; don’t make me force you out my way!”

“Wait… I’m sorry, okay? You were right; instead of getting pissed off, I should’ve… acted like an adult about things. If it makes you feel better…”

“It don’t…”

“You didn’t even know what I was about to say!” he widened his eyes at her. A smile played on her lips and she had to bite them to keep from showing it, “Do I have to kiss you to make it up to you…” he narrowed his eyes at her when he saw the slight gleam in hers. It was enough to make her gasp.

“You wanna get shocked?!”

“I don’t know… it may be worth it…”

“Seriously… I will shock the shit outta you if you try!” her outburst made him laugh and shake his head.

“As much as I would want to… I don’t think it’s worth facing the Martian’s wrath!” he was glad to see her slightly smile, “I’m truly sorry for how things turned out. And… the armor is in safe hands.”

“Oh… no dups…?”

“No dups. However… I am the sole owner of the War Machine armor… and in charge of Homeland Security…” he smiled.

“Oh! So… War Machine, right?”

“Yes.”

“War Machine leads the way in the fight against terrorism?”

“You would be correct.”

“Wow. Sweet fucking deal… welcome to the superhero club!”

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” he asked, sincerely. She huffed slightly.

“Seeing as though you’re doing the right thing with the suit… I guess so.”

“Thank you. Maybe we could team up one day; War Machine and Sgt. Lyght fighting the good fight, keeping America safe…”

“Hmm… maybe…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Harley Quinn is the exception of Gotham City characters from The Batman; well, actually, only her outfit isn't from the cartoon: it's one of the alternate costumes she wears in the Injustice video game. Also, Harley is immune to any toxins all thanks to Poison Ivy.*
> 
> *I have yet to find any definite info on how old Martian Manhunter really is. If you want to go by the date of his first appearance in comics, then he's around 60. But... that wouldn't be accounting for how long he was living on Mars beforehand. There are a few back stories that are inconsistent with one another as far as how long it was from the time he lived on Mars to when he was accidentally teleported to Earth (one even says that he was actually warped to the past to Earth). So, yeah; I made his age up! His favorite flower? Saw a picture of him laying in a field of daisies and he looked SO happy and content; I figured, why not?*


	20. Possession

She gagged for air as he held her tightly around her throat, her feet dangling nearly a foot off the floor. The only thing she could do is look at him, confusion running amok in her eyes. What was happening; why was he attacking her? His red eyes glared at her, angry at her feeble attempt to escape. For the first time since meeting one another, she was truly terrified of him.

“I am not the Martian Manhunter you have grown accustomed to… and for your defiance, you will pay with your life!” he growled at her. Before Tabitha could register what he meant, she felt a sharp, excruciating pain go through her abdomen. As she went through shock from the pain, she willed herself to look down; the Martian slowly retracted his hand away from her stomach, blood dripping to the floor and seeping down his arm. It was… her own blood. She felt her body trying to shut everything down as her vision slowly blurred; the last thing she saw was a cruel smile painted on the Martian’s face. As darkness formed around her, the only thing she could hear was her faint, shallow breathing.

She popped up and gasped, trying desperately to catch her breath. She blinked until her vision adjusted to the dark, her body trembling and her limbs burning. A dream, she tried to calm herself down. She turned and saw that she was alone in her bed, a familiar charred smell entering her nostrils. Panicked, her shaky hands reached for the lamp and she saw what had burned; her sheets.

“Shit…” she held her head in her hands. She needed to calm down before she could think of anything else. Once her breathing went back to normal, she took a deep breath and willed herself to gather the tattered sheets.

Walking to the laundry room, she recalled her dream: she knew that she was in Watchtower but something was eerie about it. She had been approached by J’onn… or so she thought it was J’onn; he was dressed differently in an all-black suit garnished with a thin blue belt with two blue bands across his forearms and shins. His massive blue cape draped across the width of his shoulders and was held in place by a red orb (she figured it represented Mars). She was about to ask why he had changed his outfit until he roughly grabbed her and put her inside a containment cell. There, she met a man who offered to help her escape from who he called the “Justice Lords”. It was his demeanor that made her trust him; his green eyes showed sympathy for her confusion.

She threw the charred sheets away and looked for a new set, still thinking about the green-eyed, bald stranger that was more than willing to help her in her dreams. She blushed slightly as she remembered his touch as well as his willingness to put himself in danger so that she was able to escape. A chill traveled throughout her spine as she remembered what happened when the Justice Lord J’onn caught her. It all felt so real to her; the terror returned as she tried to close her eyes and forget about the dream.

He wondered what she was doing up so late and why she had found her way inside the laundry room. It wasn’t off limits to any of the League members; however, it was the civilians’ job to launder, not theirs. The Martian didn’t think that he would startle her so he was taken by surprise when she jumped and gasped as he touched her. She quickly turned and tried to back away from him, running into the folding table. Her eyes were overwhelmed with terror, her body began to quiver and her breathing became ragged; the sight was enough for J’onn to back away from her.

“Tabitha…” he tried and was completely taken off guard as a sob suddenly escaped her mouth. Tears ran down to her cheeks as she covered her mouth and collapsed into a ball on the floor. He didn’t care if anyone saw; she needed to be comforted. J’onn gathered her up and held her as tight as he could, “What’s wrong; what happened?” he didn’t like that she sobbed uncontrollably… and was stiff in his arms. The terror slowly left her and she realized who was holding her, waiting patiently as she calmed down. Tears still streaked down to her chin as she looked into his confused eyes.

“J-J’onn…” her voice quivered. He slightly sighed for relief as her body finally relaxed and she held on tightly to his arms, “I’m… I’m so sorry. I had… a bad dream…”

“There’s nothing to worry about. I’m right here. Was it that terrifying?” he half whispered, attempting to wipe the tears from her eyes. She gave him a weak nod.

“Y-You… killed me…” she started to tremble yet again.

“What…? I would never hurt you…”

“I know, I know. It just… felt so real. I felt everything! The way you… looked at me… like I was… disgusting…” she trailed off.

“Tabitha… it was only a nightmare… trust me; I would never look at you in that way…”

“It scared me to death…” her voice finally became normal, “You had joined this… ‘Justice Lords’ group and…”

“The Justice Lords? You had a dream about the Justice Lord version of myself?” the urgency in his voice was very noticeable to her.

“Y-Yeah…”

“Black attire… blue bands…”

“You… h-he’s real?!”

“In a manner of speaking. Come.” he tried to pull her up with him however she was frozen with fear, “It’s okay. There’s something I want to show you.” he reassured. Still tense, Tabitha followed him back to the control room. With a few keystrokes, an image appeared on one of the monitors. She swallowed hard as the image from her dream was glaring at her from the screen; she didn’t take notice of the others, “The Justice Lords. A cruel version of the founding members from another dimension, an alternate universe. They trapped us in their world in order to take over ours. They’ve long become incarcerated… although in their dimension…” he pulled up an article that was published in The Daily Planet newspaper for Tabitha to read.

“What does he want from me…?” she whispered as she read. The Martian shook his head.

“It may be too early to jump to conclusions… even though I wouldn’t put it past them to do something like that.”

“Wait… who is that…?” she pointed to another picture on the page, “The bald man. He was there, in my dream…”

“… Lex Luthor was there as well?”

“ **That’s** Lex Luthor?!”

“Yes. Was he helping out the Justice Lords?”

“No. He was helping… me.” the thought made her slightly blush, “He was… really nice.”

“He’s a master manipulator.”

“So I’ve heard…” she mumbled. She studied the picture of him; he didn’t **appear** to look like the bad guy that Clark and the others painted him out to be. However, she knew all too well that looks could be deceiving, “What does this all mean…” she couldn’t help but to wonder. J’onn put a loving arm around her shoulder.

“It could mean nothing. Just a simple… bad dream…” he had really hoped. The chances were slight that any of the Justice Lords would tamper with someone’s mind, especially one who had no connection to them or the incident. He couldn’t explain why Luthor was there, posing as a “good guy”; it was something that he would do, J’onn reasoned. However, Tabitha had met neither the Justice Lords nor Lex Luthor; he had doubts that her nightmare meant anything, “If it will make you feel better, I’ll sleep with you…”

“No… I don’t think I’m gonna go back to sleep any time soon…” she made the decision. She knew that she couldn’t; the dream was still too fresh in her mind.

“You’re on light duty until you get some decent sleep.”

“J’onn…”

“Tabitha… I will do all that it takes to keep you safe. There is no way that I will allow the Justice Lords or Lex Luthor… or **anyone** hurt you… not if I can control it.” he declared. She could only look at him, more tears threatening to cloud her vision. Without warning, she gave him a loving kiss.

* * *

The nightmares did not stop for her. Every night, a different founding member attempted to seriously injure or kill her altogether. In every one, Lex Luthor was there to help her in some form or fashion; if not to help, he was there to sacrifice himself so that she could escape the wrath. She couldn’t tell J’onn about every single one; she didn’t want to worry him more than he already was. She knew that they were nightmares however she knew that it wasn’t purely coincidental that the criminal mastermind was present in every single one; she knew that he had a hand in manipulating her dreams somehow. The breaking point was when she realized that she hadn’t slept in a week to avoid the nightmares. She had enough by that point; she needed to settle it with the supposedly source.

She didn’t have a real plan; she didn’t even think that it would take long to figure things out. Tabitha assumed that she would be back at least in a day so she told no one when she left Watchtower. The only place she knew to start looking for Luthor was in Metropolis; even though Clark and J’onn were adamant about the inability to trust him, she did see that he didn’t hide from the public.

She was surprised at how little he hid, as she stared at the large building, LexCorp proudly displayed on the front for everyone to see. She shook her head as she walked inside.

“You gotta be kidding me; it can’t be **this** easy…” she mumbled as she walked towards the receptionist desk. The lobby was immaculate with pure white marble floors and pristine matching walls. The redheaded receptionist gave her a warm smile, despite of how Tabitha looked.

“Welcome to LexCorp; do you have an appointment?” she cheerfully asked. If anything, Tabitha was impressed at the customer service skills; that told her that the mastermind only employed the best. The question, however, made her bite her lip. She had no real plan, she realized yet again; she had figured that her search would take at least a day and that would give her time to formulate one. Was she really bold enough to just demand to see the man?

“Uh… actually… I don’t…” she stumbled. The redhead’s hazel eyes gleamed as she smiled even more.

“Your accent… you wouldn’t happen to be Tabitha Lyght, would you?” she surprised her. Tabitha just blinked at the lady.

“Uh… yeah; yes…”

“Mr. Luthor’s been expecting you for quite some time, now!” she immediately got on the phone, “Sir, your appointment is here. Miss Lyght. Yes, sir. He wants me to personally escort you. This way, please…” she kept her perfect smile as she led her towards the elevators. She had to admit that she would’ve been more comfortable if she had crashed into the lobby, threatening people until the man showed his face! However, seeing that he was expecting her made Tabitha realize that the nightmares were not merely coincidental.

Inside the elevator, the petite receptionist looked Tabitha over, still with a smile plastered on her face. Tabitha looked at her.

“W-What…”

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been really curious for a couple of weeks now; what business do you have with Mr. Luthor?” she simply asked.

“If… if I told you… you won’t believe me…” Tabitha left it at that. The woman simply nodded.

“I see. I was just curious; you’re all he’s talked about for weeks! I’ve never seen him so animated over anyone… well, not a woman, anyways…” she finished. It was enough for Tabitha to shoot her a look.

“Wait… you saying that Mr. Luthor’s… you know…” she raised her eyebrows and snapped her fingers in a zig-zag motion. It was enough to make the woman laugh heartily.

“Oh; no! Mr. Luthor’s had eight wives…”

“Eight?! Jesus…”

“Yeah; unlucky in love but very successful. It’s the only relationship he can really count on…” she noted as the elevator doors opened. Tabitha looked in awe at what laid beyond the open mahogany doors; a massive office with plush cream carpet. The walls had the same mahogany paneling, adorned with various art pieces. In the middle of the room was an all glass desk with none other than Lex Luthor sitting behind it. He swiveled towards the two, busy on the phone. He gave his receptionist a plain look however when his eyes landed on Tabitha, his green eyes shone and a slow smile appeared across his lips.

“My appointment is here.” he simply said and immediately hung up the phone. As he stood, so did the woman who was sitting on the loveseat adjacent to the desk. She reminded Tabitha of a vampire; her v-cut black dress hugged her slim figure tightly and flowed down to the carpet, exposing the majority of her right leg. Her purple hair hung past her hips, her eyes seemed milky, almost translucent and the cross-like brooch that laid perfectly over her jugular notch put more emphasis on the v-cut in the dress.

As the receptionist got back on the elevator, Luthor approached the lightning woman, his smile never leaving. She blushed as she looked him over, admitting that he was more dynamic in person than in her dreams. His tailor-made suit almost envied those of Bruce’s, putting emphasis on his broad shoulders. It definitely said “power” and “success”, Tabitha thought. The little steps that he took towards her immediately emanated charisma, elegance and confidence… nothing criminal or cynical at all. His smile alone warmed her, making her cheeks ache even more, and his green eyes became brighter as he neared her. She was close to becoming totally mesmerized by his presence had she not remembered suddenly the reason she was there in the first place; she quickly narrowed her eyes at him.

“Miss Lyght. This is Tala, my personal assistant.” he coolly and quickly introduced, “You are more… beautiful than I had imagined…” his words surprised both women in the room, “It is definitely an absolute pleasure to finally meet you.” he tried to grab her hand. She reluctantly backed away, remembering her goal.

“C-Cut off the charm! I just wanna know why… and how you’ve been haunting my dreams!” she glared at him. Luthor chuckled slightly.

“No beating around the bush for you, I see! I really like that…” his green eyes became sultry, “My dear, it was the only way to guarantee a meeting with you. I’m pretty sure that those…‘friends’ of yours have filled your head with some pretty mean things about me…” he said. Her eyebrows lifted slightly; she knew by his tone that he was speaking about the Justice League, “I’m sorry, Miss Lyght; was I not supposed to know that you’re a part of the Justice League? Or, would you rather be called Miss Strykher…?” when she heard that name, she couldn’t hide her surprise.

“You know way too much…”

“Do I? It wasn’t like you were trying to keep it all a secret! I will admit that I am pleased to see how you look without the mask…” the sultry look returned in his eyes, making her blush furiously, “Well, seeing as how you’re cooped up in space, I figured there was no need to hide your identity. Tell me; don’t you feel… underappreciated up there?”

“… N-No. Every member has their purpose…” she defended.

“No? Why is it that I don’t see you on the front cover of every newspaper?”

“… I’m no Superman. We all can’t save the day…”

“Ha! ‘Save the day’?! You honestly think that your group can do what civilians have done longer than them? Do you think that they truly have good intentions? With their ungodly-like powers, who’s to say when they’ll eventually turn against us?!”

“You’re wrong. Superman and Batman… they would never turn their back on the people they’ve vowed to protect! And I’m a part of ‘em; you think I’d do something like that?!”

“Of course not. You? Why, you’re different. I believe that you’re better than they are. Your powers were… forced on you.”

“You know way too fucking much…” she mumbled, shaking her head. Lex smiled and approached her yet again, walking around her.

“It’s nothing against you, my dear; I make it my business to know a lot of things. Miss Lyght… why are you not being praised along with Superman, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter? When you fight… **you’re** the one fighting the good fight. You didn’t come here from another planet; this **is** your home planet! It should be **you** fighting for the 99%, taking credit!”

“I’m a team player, Mr. Luthor…”

“And, why should you be, especially when they try to hide you from the public? You know what they are? Glory hogs. How did you feel when you were with Spider-Man, Miss Lyght? Didn’t you feel… liberated? The only ones that tried to stop you… were the villains.” he had smoothly closed in the gap between the two, “The Justice League… they’re your villains, Tabitha. They hinder you. If you were with me… I would never hinder you. We could form a partnership and I would make sure you’re given credit where credit is due. You wouldn’t have to hide your identity behind some… mask. You would be able to do whoever…” he slyly chuckled; he was so close to her, he could feel her heart racing, “I meant… whatever you wanted to do. Doesn’t that sound better than being cooped up in space, being a glorified super electrician?” he asked. Another word to describe him popped into her head; magnetic. She had never been seduced before and had to admit that he was doing an excellent job; she hadn’t stopped blushing since she walked inside the room. She quickly saw why there had been eight women who had the pleasure of calling themselves Mrs. Luthor; the man was charismatic, powerful, alluring, confident…

She couldn’t move as he began to lean in closer to her, preparing her for a kiss. It alarmed her that he knew so much about her; he knew that she was Peter’s sidekick, he knew all about the experiment gone wrong that turned her into a Metahuman, he knew her second super heroine alias… he knew that she was aboard Watchtower, handling its electrical and electronic affairs. It was then when she realized the other words she could use to describe him: manipulative, egotistical… criminal mastermind. She did the only thing she could think of; as his green eyes became hooded, she placed her hand on his chest (she had to add “toned” to the list of words as well) and gave him a shock that was enough to make him quickly jump away from her, giving her a surprised look. She smiled slightly.

“Alright, first off… my personal space: **clearly** you invaded the hell out of! Second; I’m spoken for…” she almost took delight at his expression; something he **didn’t** know, “And, I don’t think my boyfriend **or** your personal assistant would take kindly to you trying to molest me!” she nodded towards Tala; she had seen the sneers and disdained looks she had given the two, “Call me what you want but I know a shitful of people up there that don’t mind me being a ‘super electrician’… and I would never desert them. They’re my friends. I’d rather spend the rest of my life up in space by myself than another second in here with **you**! Now… if you don’t wanna feel what you just felt a hundred times over… I suggest you stay out my head… however the hell you’re doing it! Goodbye, Mr. Luthor.” she glared at him before turning to leave. Before she could reach the mahogany doors, she felt a piercing pain that traveled up her spine and quickly to her head, making her drop to the ground, unconscious. Tala retracted her magic and watched, slightly seething as Lex went over to pick up the lightning woman, a small smile on his lips.

“Oh, Miss Lyght; I really did want to do things the easy way with you…” he shook his head solemnly as he placed her closer to Tala. He was never without a backup plan; he really did hope that he would be able to simply talk Tabitha into siding with him, playing on the theory that she was being suppressed by the Justice League. For the first time in a while, he didn’t fully lie; he did feel that she would be better off with him. His political career would see drastic gains introducing her as the new face of the people; he knew that the public would eat up the fact that she was former military, alone.

He nodded at Tala and she began a magical chant; his backup plan, had Tabitha declined would be to magically brainwash her into siding with him. He knew that she would be no match against Superman and probably the majority rest of the Justice League; that was what Cadmus would be there for: to enhance her powers so that she **would** be on par with the Man of Steel.

As Tala started her chant, she was glad that Luthor had no idea that the “plans” had changed. For as long as she worked for Cadmus in what they simply deemed as their “mystical department”, she had vied for Lex’s affection. She knew that he was somewhat coldhearted in the love department however the little attention he had shown her made her fall more in love with him. She had figured if she simply did as he requested of her, he would eventually see how loyal she was to him.

Those hopes and dreams were quickly dashed as she could do nothing but watch as he tried to seduce the lightning woman. A wicked smile crept on her face as she finished her chant and a portal appeared above the unconscious woman. Luthor raised an eyebrow and drew his attention immediately to Tala.

“What is this?” he demanded. It was too late, Tala knew as a black shadow appeared from the portal. The dark figure let out an ear piercing screech as it became transparent and entered Tabitha’s body. Luthor grabbed Tala painfully by her arm, “What did you just do?! This wasn’t part of the plan!” he snarled at her. As the demon completed its possession, Tabitha’s eyes popped open. She screamed out in pain, curling into a ball, convulsing. Despite the pressure on her arm, Tala continued to smile.

“Let’s see how attractive she is with a demon inside of her!” she spat.

“You ungrateful…” he raised his hand to hit her; she had ruined everything that he had planned. Or, had she? He had a sudden change of heart as he roughly pushed her away from him and watched as Tabitha stopped convulsing, struggling to stand. He went over to help but stopped in his tracks as she let out a painful moan that slowly converted into an amplified, almost inhuman growl. She finally stood fully upright and slowly stretched. When she turned and looked at the two, they both noticed that her whiskey brown eyes were no more; she glared at them with ominous, jet black eyes.

“Miss Lyght…” Luthor tried, he had a feeling in vain. She gave him a malicious grin, approaching him slowly.

**_“Is that the human’s name?”_** she chuckled, a somewhat mix of her former voice and the demon’s, **_“She is no longer with us; trapped inside of this body…”_** the hybrid did a quick look over of its new body, an approving sound escaping its lips, **_“This will have to do. Mmm… the power contained in this body; this built up… rage!”_**

“I may be of some assistance, helping you… release some of that rage…” Luthor tried. The possessed woman eyed him and smiled wider.

**_“You? What could you possibly do for me besides becoming my servant? What could you offer me, human?”_**

“My services… as your number one servant…” it slightly pained him to take a backseat however he realized that it was a demon he was trying to strike a deal with, “It’s come to my attention that we both want something… and can benefit from each other’s help. We have something in common, I presume: world domination. I can guarantee it…”

**_“How can a lone human promise me this?”_**

“By doing things my way. I’m pretty sure that you’ve tapped into the woman’s abilities. But… there are others who are much more powerful than she is; causing chaos now will guarantee your downfall. My company can enhance those powers, making her… you stronger than the ones who are about to oppose you. Once those individuals are out of the way… there will be no stopping you…” he smiled. She returned the smile, tracing his jawline slowly.

**_“I sense that you could be of some use to me…”_** she lowly growled. Irritated, Tala gathered all of her mystical powers, preparing to attack the possessed woman. However, without looking, the hybrid raised her arm and sent a stream of lightning her way, shocking her unconscious. Luthor gave Tala an amused look.

“Looks like your plan backfired…”

**_“Enough taunting; you will show me that you deserve to be my main servant!”_** the hybrid demanded. He couldn’t hide his smile even if he wanted to.

“As you wish…”

* * *

He couldn’t understand why no one else seemed as worried as he was or that they hadn’t paid any attention; his girlfriend was definitely missing. Watchtower was indeed large enough for quite a few superheroes to go unnoticed for days. However, this was his girlfriend as well as the unofficial electrician of the space station; she had to report to him on a daily basis. J’onn tried to put the thought in the back of his mind; maybe she went down on Earth to visit the professor and her family. The Martian would have believed this theory… had she responded to any of his telepathic messages. He knew that she had all but mastered making her mind blank whenever she thought he would go through it but this was a different circumstance; he was being blocked.

“Dr. Lindsey…” he was glad that he had given her a communicator.

“J’onn! Really? Do I go around calling you ‘Mr. Manhunter’?” he could hear the laughter in her voice.

“I’m sorry; I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Between classes right now. I got a few minutes; what’s up?”

“… Is Tabitha with you…?”

“Tabs? No… I ain’t seen her since Vegas. Wait… you can’t find her? She’s gone missing…?”

“I… I don’t know for sure. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, especially if she’s simply visiting family.” he lied. He knew that she was missing and that something was definitely wrong; he didn’t want to worry her best friend.

“Is her communicator broken? Isn’t there a way to track her down through it?”

“I have tried that. It’s either turned off or out of range… which, there aren’t many places where it would go out of range…”

“Which means, regardless, she may be in some trouble. Unless… a secret mission, maybe?”

“… Maybe… I need to check around…” he admitted that he didn’t think of that option. He didn’t approve of secret missions; they were usually the most dangerous ones. To think that Tabitha would risk her safety just to say that she went on a major mission bothered him almost as much as her being missing.

“Keep me posted; I’ll do the same if she shows up here.”

“Thank you, Jamila…”

He had checked with almost everyone in the League and found that no one recruited her for a classified mission. The Martian realized that she had two other friends who were superheroes and checked with Tony and Peter; neither had seen her in a while as well. J’onn even resorted to talking to Nick Fury and was actually thankful that he heard no word from her. He had decided to check her room and hoped that he would find some type of clue in there.

The first thing that he clearly noticed was her bed; it wasn’t made up. The one thing he knew about his girlfriend was that she was strict on keeping things tidy and orderly; her bed being the main thing. The second thing that grabbed his attention was the slight pungent smell coming from her nightstand. When she first received the scented oils, he just assumed that his senses were just really over sensitive; he had smelt the odor faintly then. As he approached the small dresser, grabbing the vials and the warmer jar, it was clear that there was something wrong with the oils. He left her room immediately with the items, heading towards the first lab he would run into.

Bruce had noticed that the Martian left Tabitha’s room with a sense of urgency and knew that something was wrong. He almost had to run to catch up to him.

“J’onn… everything okay?” he saw that the Martian hadn’t stopped walking.

“No. Tabitha is missing… and I need these oils analyzed.” he rushed, quickly showing the three small bottles to him. He was confused; what was wrong with the oils that Ethan had given her? He shrugged in his mind and continued to follow J’onn to the nearest lab; he knew that the Martian had advanced senses: if he felt that something wasn’t right… it usually wasn’t.

He then realized the first part that J’onn mentioned: Tabitha was missing. Without thinking, he grabbed the vials and started to prep them for analysis.

“What do you mean, missing?”

“I have tried everything in my power to get in contact with her; nothing is working. No one’s seen her in days.” his words alarmed Bruce. He gave him a worried look.

“Do you think…” he couldn’t finish his sentence; there was no way, he quickly thought. Bruce was glad that J’onn slowly shook his head.

“No…” he answered and closed his eyes, “I can still sense her.”

It took Bruce only thirty minutes to analyze all of the oils. As he looked at the results, he gave them a puzzled look.

“All three of the oils… they’re… neurotoxins…” he announced, looking at the Martian, “It’s not enough to kill anyone… but…”

“… Enough to affect brain behavior…” J’onn made the sudden realization. Her sudden nightmares; they hadn’t occurred until **after** her birthday.

“This doesn’t make sense; Ethan would never hurt her intentionally. He still cares for her…” Bruce defended his friend.

“He was being used. Someone knew that she wouldn’t reject anything that he gives her; they knew that she would trust him.”

“I need to talk to him; find out who gave him the oils…”

“No need… I already know…” J’onn thought about her dreams. In every one, a Justice League member was attacking her. The only other constant was who else was there, “… Luthor…”

“Luthor? But… why? What does he want with her?”

“I can only speculate. Turn her against the rest of us, maybe. She was having nightmares about us attacking her; Luthor always came to her rescue.” he explained. Bruce sighed and looked at him.

“J’onn…” he thought twice about mentioning that he knew about the two dating. The only reason why he wanted to mention it was because he knew how the Martian was feeling at the moment. The same as he did; beyond worried about the whereabouts of his friend. He knew that J’onn would want to go looking for her by himself, something that he had no problem with; it would be what he would do.

However, the plan to get to Tabitha had been almost extremely intricate; the mere idea that Luthor had went through such lengths had sickened Bruce. If he was evil enough to slowly poison her, to manipulate her dreams in such a crude way, there was no telling what else he had planned for the lightning woman. This would be the one time that Bruce had to admit more than one person would have to search for her.

“If Luthor went through this much trouble to get to Tabitha… some backup may be needed to get her back.” he finished his thought aloud; he would have another chance to mention about their secret relationship. J’onn sighed and nodded; he knew that the man was right. His emotions were high and fighting with one another; he would definitely need someone else there with him to keep things calm or at least orderly.

“I don’t want the entire League involved; only the people that she really cares about…” he decided. Bruce nodded at him and got up.

“I’ll get Wally; Diana’s already on a mission.”

“Get Dr. Lin… Jamila on the communicator; her brother’s wife may be helpful. Contact Stark as well.” J’onn ordered. He wasted no time teleporting himself to New York, using his Martian senses to track down Peter.

“J’onn! Found Tabby yet?”

“No. She’s… in trouble.”

“… What…?”

“I usually don’t go outside the League for help but I’m willing to make an exception. I have a feeling that we’re going to need some help from the ones she considers her friends.”

“Of course, you can count me in; whatever it takes to save her. How… how bad off is she?” Peter needed to know. The Martian slightly sighed and shook his head.

“Pretty bad if something’s actually blocking my telepathy to get in contact with her…”

“Holy… let’s go save her!”

* * *

“J’onn… I think I found something…” Bruce raced through the streets of Metropolis, “There’s an investigation going on at a hotel; people have been hurt by electrical mishaps.” he started to explain through his communicator.

“… Tabitha…”

“My thoughts exactly. Guess who owns the building: Luthor.”

“Give me the coordinates to the hotel and then go talk to the people who’ve been hurt.”

“… They’re all in serious condition.” the silence was deafening eerie between the two. The thought made the Martian cringe; something was definitely not right with Tabitha: she wouldn’t hurt innocent people. He glanced at her closest friends who had been on standby.

“We’ll meet you at the hotel…”

The five debriefed the hotel manager and was allowed to look around the premises. For a prestigious, five-star hotel, it was nearly abandoned all thanks to the “mishaps” with the electrical components.

“So… how do we know that dawling is behind all of this?”

“It’s too much of a coincidence; Luthor owns the hotel where electrical accidents happen?” Ashley looked at Tony. He shrugged.

“Doesn’t sound like her… at all…”

“… I think she’s been seriously brainwashed…” Wally piped in quietly. He didn’t want to let the others know his true instincts; it would only have them come to terms with the inevitable if it was true, “You know that if that’s the case… we’re going to have to fight her. She won’t come with us quietly…” the idea made the Martian lose his quick pace. That was something he hadn’t prepared for; the only thing on his mind was tracking down and saving the one he loved. Would he find the heart to physically fight her?

“Then, that’s what we’ll have to do to get her back…” Bruce mentally shook his head at the thought. He knew that he was right; they would have to show no mercy if need be. He quickly glanced at J’onn, whose expression didn’t change and knew that the idea was hurting him as well.

As the group rounded the corner, J’onn stopped dead in his tracks, looking at the closed double doors leading into the hotel’s convention center.

“… J’onn…?” Peter looked at the doors as well when his spider senses kicked in.

“… She’s in there…” any other time, he would’ve simply burst through the door and grabbed her. However, not only was he feeling her presence… but someone, or something else.

“Something else is in there with her…” Peter confirmed. Tony looked at the doors with a thoughtful look and then turned to the Martian.

“Well… it’s now or never. Are we going to do things nicely… or go all hard-assed?”

“I’m really not in the mood to play nice…” J’onn narrowed his eyes at the doors; whatever was in there was more than likely the reason his telepathy was being blocked… and had Tabitha.

“Yes; my thoughts exactly!” Tony aimed his arm at the doors, quickly blasting them with a proton beam. As the group moved in, they were immediately met with a surge of lightning, knocking all of them aside. Tony looked around at everyone else, making sure that they were okay, “Was **not** expecting that!” he looked towards where the surge came from. In the back of the room, he spotted his friend, waves of currents covering her entire body. She glared at the group with an evil smile as she made her way towards them.

“ ** _You were right; they fell for the trap too easily!_** ” the group noticed the change in her voice.

“… Tabby…?” Wally weakly asked as he gathered enough strength to stand. She did a Lightning Cloud towards him, becoming face-to-face with him. She glared at him.

“ ** _Try again…_** ” she confirmed, putting her hands around his neck. She released a powerful wave that made him immediately drop to the ground.

“No…” J’onn made his way over to the two. He sadly admitted that Wally was right; they were going to fight her. He grabbed her by the arm, only to be met by a powerful shock. She turned and glared at him; that was when he noticed the change in her eye color, “You… you’re not Tabitha…” was the last thing she allowed him to say; she delivered a quick and fierce punch to his stomach, taking the Martian by complete surprise. He was taken off guard yet again as he felt the side of her foot to his face, lightning applied at its max capacity; the blow was enough to put him to his knees.

“ ** _I thought you said the Martian was a tough opponent. Why isn’t he fighting back?_** ” she looked up. Luthor appeared from the back of the room, chuckling slightly.

“I have no idea, my dear…” he responded. She continued to glare at J’onn as she slowly approached him.

“ ** _Oh… I see, now. The human has a special bond with him…_** ” she crouched down, roughly grabbing his chin so that he was looking at her, “ ** _Since you won’t fight back… I’m going to let her watch as I slowly torture you…_** ” her eyes lightened up slightly as she continued to glare at him, charging up. She flinched slightly and chuckled, “ ** _She’s begging me to leave you alone… how pathetic!_** ” the hybrid let loose all of the contained energy, pushing the Martian several feet away.

“J’onn!” Ashley quickly went to her canteen. As she released some of her water and made it form into a ball, she looked over sadly at what used to be Tabitha, “Sorry…” she apologized as she pushed the ball towards her. It engulfed the lightning woman and before she could fight it off, Ashley turned it into ice. She glared over at Luthor, gathering more water to throw at him as he tried to make his way towards the ball of ice. However, she was stopped short as an orb of purple formed around her hands; Tala appeared beside Lex, controlling the magically induced circle. Peter threw a web at one of the chairs and swung it over to hit Luthor, throwing him towards the wall. He immediately threw webs towards his wrists, pinning him firmly on the wall. Bruce threw a Batarang towards Tala, making her retract her magic from Ashley’s hands. She glared at Tala as she threw a powerful stream of water towards her, knocking her into the wall besides Luthor. Before she could use her magic, Ashley threw her hand out, controlling Tala’s hand, “Talk before I give you an aneurism…”

“You… can’t… do that…” Tala struggled to move.

“I own your blood, now; don’t try me…” with another flick of the wrist, she made Tala drop to her knees, “What’s wrong with our friend?”

“She’s… possessed…”

“Possessed…” without a word, she produced more water from her canteen and froze Luthor’s wrists to the wall, “Why would you do that to her?!”

“She’s prone to jealousy…” Lex glanced towards Tala, “I’ve done nothing but help her, which is less than I can say about your group…” he spat out. Before she could respond, the cracking sound of the ice barrier she created was heard. Everyone put their attention towards the bubble as it shattered, releasing its prisoner. The possessed woman glared at the others who were surrounding her, obviously angry about being put in an ice orb. She immediately charged up and filled the area with lightning. Ashley quickly put up an ice shield and gave Lex a warning stare.

“‘Help’ her? Look at her! That isn’t Tabitha!”

“ **You** made her hold all of that power inside of her! The woman you see before you **is** Miss Lyght!” Luthor looked on as the possessed woman fought her friends with ease. Wally looked over at Peter and Bruce.

“What do we do; she’s obviously stronger than us…”

“… We gang up on her… and show no mercy…” Bruce actually eyed the Martian, who hadn’t thrown a punch her way; he couldn’t. He knew that she wasn’t her normal self; she had been possessed. However, looking at her… he didn’t want to hurt her.

Ashley put her attention back to the two that she held captive.

“No… that’s not the Tabitha we know. Fix her…” she glared at the man. Luthor shrugged but returned the glare.

“I can’t… **she** was the one who summoned the demon…” he nodded towards Tala.

“… Don’t make me show how powerful I am; do something…” she released her hold of the woman.

“… I can do a reverse chant and place the demon in a container with the Seal of Solomon.” Tala started a chant that drew the attention of the hybrid.

“ ** _No you don’t…_** ” it said and threw lightning towards the woman, knocking her unconscious.

“Damnit…” Ashley jumped out the way before the stream of lightning hit her as well. She narrowed her eyes, debating on controlling her friend’s body. She finally saw the dilemma, as well as how J’onn felt; she couldn’t. She only used the ability when it was truly necessary… and she didn’t like to use it then.

Luthor saw that Ashley was thinking of something and his eyes widened.

“My dear, she’s planning something!” his voice made the hybrid immediately put its attention towards Ashley, throwing a powerful surge her way. It was enough to knock her unconscious as well, making J’onn narrow his eyes.

“ ** _Are you going to fight now, Martian? Or, do I have to hit someone else?_** ” before he could respond, it threw lightning towards Bruce, rendering him helpless, “ ** _What will it take to make you fight? Oh… I know…_** ” the hybrid did a Lightning Cloud towards the Martian and gave him a sadistic smile, “ ** _Don’t you wish you could go into my mind… to hear that human scream in pain…? She’s watching me destroy the ones she love, slowly, one by one… and when I’m done, I will destroy her soul!_** ” it hissed. It was finally enough to make the Martian snap. He growled as he wrapped his hand around her neck, slamming her into the wall.

“If you hurt her…” he angrily grumbled but the hybrid only laughed.

“ ** _She’s already suffering! And there isn’t anything you can do about it…_** ” it released another powerful surge, knocking J’onn away a few feet, “ ** _I expected the others to be weak but not you! Your weakness alone will be the very thing that kills this human!_** ” it said. Before J’onn could make a move, Tony jumped in between the two. The hybrid gave him a shock but was taken by surprise when he laughed.

“Glad dawling didn’t tell you about that advantage…” he mentioned and released his proton beam. The power sent the hybrid across the room, nearly going through the wall. J’onn gave Tony a bewildered look as he shrugged, “I can absorb her powers, she should be able to absorb mine…”

“Which means, you’ve done nothing but piss her off…” Wally confirmed as the group went over to her. They prepared to strike as her body slightly convulsed. The Martian held his arm up, mentally telling the group to stand their ground. He carefully knelt down and studied the woman who looked right back at him, still convulsing. His red eyes softened as he took her into his arms; her eyes had flashed from the ominous black back to her whiskey brown: she was back to normal.

His joy was short-lived as he noticed that she was taking short breaths and continued to tremble. Her eyes misted over; he knew that she was in some serious pain.

“… Tabitha…”

“J-J-J-J’onn… it-it-it w-w-won’t s-s-s-stop… hurt-hurting me…” she confirmed sadly. He held her tighter, not caring who was looking.

“We’re going to get rid of that demon; I promise…” he half whispered, wiping the tears that formed in her eyes away. More tears appeared as she started to shake her head.

“I-I-It’s not… w-w-worth it. It’s… t-t-try-trying…” she swallowed hard and let out a sob, “J’onn……… k-k-k-kill me…” her words made him widen his eyes. The demon was putting her through too much pain trying to take control back over her body; she just wanted it all to end. She was holding on just long enough to let J’onn know what she felt.

“N-No; I won’t kill you! That’s **not** an option!” he glared down at her, the only emotion that he was going to let out. He couldn’t bear the thought of ending her life voluntarily; how would he live with himself?

“I-I-It’s… the only… w-w-way…”

“It’s not!” he held her even tighter. Tony put a gentle hand on J’onn’s shoulder.

“She’s suffering pretty bad, man. Maybe…”

“I am not going to kill her; no one is going to kill her!!” he gave Tony a menacing stare. He looked down at his girlfriend, continuing to wipe at her tears. He held his own tears in as he gently and lovingly kissed her on the forehead. The Martian didn’t know what to do. He knew that killing her was not something he wanted to do. However, he couldn’t deny the fact that she was suffering. He couldn’t think of any other way to get rid of the demon, especially seeing that Tala was unconscious. No sooner had he thought about it, the idea came to him. J’onn gently raised her head so that she was looking at him, “Tabitha… listen to me. I will not let that demon kill you… I’m taking that demon out of you, myself.” his words shocked everyone, “… This is going to hurt… a lot. Brace yourself…” he looked deep into her eyes. He waited until she nodded her head, giving him the go ahead before taking a deep breath. He became transparent and transferred himself inside of her body, becoming one with her. The group watched as she continued to tremble and sob, finally curling into a ball.

“What… what is he doing…?” Luthor asked no one in particular. Suddenly, Tabitha let out a long gasp before releasing a terrifying wail, thrashing around on the ground, “He’s… he’s killing her; stop him!!” he struggled against his restraints. Ashley finally came to and noticed a copper container beside Tala.

“… Seal of Solomon…” she grunted as she picked it up and went over towards the group. They all watched in horror as Tabitha continued to thrash violently, filling the room with deafening and shrill screams.

“There isn’t anything we can do for her… can we?” Peter asked.

“It just has to run its course; whatever John boy is doing to her. Trust me; this is hurting him more than it’s hurting her…” Tony noticed. Just as the others started to regain consciousness, her horrific screams ceased as she began to levitate a couple of feet from the ground. Her body was racked with even more violent shakes as her eyes grew wide. Moments later, J’onn separated himself from her body slowly, bringing a transparent dark figure along with him. It shrieked as he removed it from her body fully, holding it firmly by its head. No sooner had the two left her body, she grew limp and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Ashley ran up to the two, opening the container, letting the Martian place the demon inside, sealing it tightly. He glared at the box, trying to catch his breath; the emergency exorcism had taken a lot out of him.

“Oh… Tabby!” Wally’s worried voice grabbed his attention. He turned and saw that she was lying on the ground… and wasn’t moving.

“She’s… she’s not breathing. J’onn, she’s not breathing…” Ashley panicked. He could do nothing but stare in disbelief as Bruce tried to check her vitals. When he started to shake his head, the Martian’s heart simply dropped. It couldn’t be; she wasn’t gone. He was trying to save her; he thought that he was doing the right thing. The last thing he had wanted to do was watch her die.

“No…” J’onn immediately kneeled down beside her, gathering her in his arms, “Tabitha…” he started to apologize but came to his senses and began CPR. After a few moments of no response, Bruce tried to pull J’onn away.

“Stop… she’s gone…” he tried to reason with him however the heat radiating from the Martian’s body was enough to make him back away and let him continue his resuscitation.

“ _Tabitha, please; get up! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen! I was trying to save you! Breathe, breathe, breathe! You can **not** leave me!! I… I l…_” his frantic thoughts were interrupted as he finally sensed that she was breathing. As he rose up, she gasped and opened her eyes, coughing at the sudden welcome of air. She blinked the cloudiness away and fully focused on the people looking down at her, all had a look of relief on their faces. She looked at them in a confused manner at first however when her eyes met the red eyes of the Martian’s, they widened in fear. Tabitha let out a terrified scream and tried her best to scramble to her feet, scooting away from the crowd of people. Currents of electricity flowed around her body as she looked at everyone in panic.

“What’s wrong with her? What did you do?” Bruce looked at J’onn, who shook his head slowly, still looking at the confused and frightened woman.

“All I did was try to resuscitate her…”

“Tabby…” Peter approached her. He quickly moved out of the way as her hand reached out, releasing uncontrollable streams of lightning his way.

“What’s the matter?” J’onn tried however his appearance only made her scream out.

“No, no, no, no; go away, go away!!” she tried to cover herself, tears jumping out of her eyes.

“Tabitha… it’s us…” Wally tried to put a hand on her shoulder only for it to be jerked away. The constant flow of lightning started to shock her, jumping whenever they hit her.

“Who’s… Tabitha? What… w-w-why do I keep… shocking myself…? M-Make it stop!” she panicked even more, curling herself into a tighter ball.

“I hate to change subjects but… they’re getting away…” Ashley pointed over towards Tala and Luthor, the woman using her magic to free him from the wall.

“We have a far more important problem…” J’onn continued to stare at Tabitha. 


	21. Memories Lost

The brother and sister stared at the woman beyond the glassed room of the infirmary. The professor was notified of what happened to her best friend and was immediately teleported aboard Watchtower to see her condition in person. She fought tears as she watched the civilian nurse check her blood pressure and temperature.

“She looks… so lost…” she observed. Ramil slightly nodded and sighed.

“I don’t think I could get used to seeing her like this…” he added. To keep from crying, Jamila let out a deep sigh and turned away only to face J’onn.

“Oh… how long you’ve been here…?”

“A few moments.” he simply looked at his girlfriend. The professor took notice and gave him a nod.

“How’s everyone else?” she wanted to change the subject, for both of their sakes. The Martian slightly smiled at her.

“They’ll be fine. We’re all just a little sore… and exhausted.” his attention went right back to Tabitha as she sat on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. With a little sigh, the lightning woman studied the white wristband, J’onn knew to try to familiarize herself with her own name. Jamila looked at her friend and bit her lip.

“Has she… even spoken to you since you guys got back?”

“… She doesn’t know any of us, anymore. She’s… afraid of me…” it saddened the siblings to hear the misery in his voice. As Jamila wiped at her eyes, Ramil laid a careful hand on J’onn’s shoulder.

“She’ll be back to normal soon enough; she’ll regain her memory.”

“What if she doesn’t…” it came out almost as a whisper. The Martian clenched his fists at his thoughts as well as hers; it pained him that she constantly tried to figure out who she was and why she had the powers that she did. He had blamed himself for her memory loss… and almost accepted that it was no wonder she was afraid of him.

“… Why don’t we go see her and talk to her?” Jamila suggested; she had sensed that he was getting upset. He started to shake his head slightly until she grabbed him tightly around his forearm, “J’onn… she needs to remember. She won’t be able to if you don’t want to talk to her…”

“She is afraid of me…” he reiterated.

“Then, make her **not** afraid of you!” she glared at him. She loosened her grip on him and sighed when he gave her a surprised look, “… Show her, again how much you really care about her…” her words made him widened his eyes.

“You… can tell…?” he asked and she let out a small laugh.

“I’ve been married for a long time; I **know** the looks! Let’s go see her…” she continued to look at him. Of course, the professor knew how much her best friend meant to him; it was obvious on his face every time they were together. The looks that they gave one another made the professor’s heart warm up.

“I’ll go and check on Ashley…” Ramil nodded and left the two. When the Martian finally nodded, the two made their way to her room. The infirmary was one of the heaviest guarded places aboard Watchtower, per Bruce’s and Clark’s request; the guards by her door stiffened when they caught sight of J’onn, immediately saluting and moving out of his way. He quickly glanced back at Jamila.

“She’s with me…” he informed the guards and they let her pass as well.

It had been a week since the group went on the rescue mission for Tabitha. Since she had lost all of her memory, she had no idea of what happened to her before and was slowly trying to get used to things. It was rough for her; she had powers that she didn’t understand and it seemed as though the people around her had abilities as well. She didn’t know anything about her former life and it made her a bit upset.

When the door to her room opened, she immediately looked at it; the head nurse had just finished with her routine vitals check: she had no clue what they would want so soon. Her eyes widened as she saw the Martian come in, followed by a woman in plain clothes; she immediately jumped out of her bed and tried to make herself disappear underneath it. The scene was enough to make J’onn and Jamila stop dead in their tracks.

“Tabitha…” the professor half-whispered. She noticed that Tabitha quickly motioned for her and went to her side, “What’s…”

“He’s here for me… again…” she panicked in a hushed tone. Jamila switched glances from J’onn and back to Tabitha, failing to hide her smirk.

“Don’t worry; I got this…” she patted Tabitha on the shoulder and stood up. In a dramatic fashion, Jamila threw her arms out towards J’onn, “Martian, be gone!!” she yelled at him but immediately laughed, “Sorry… I couldn’t help myself!” she put her attention back to her best friend, trying to help her up, “It’s okay; he’s the last person that would hurt you, trust me.” she tried to reassure. Tabitha uneasily got back on the bed, sneaking glances at J’onn.

“O-Oh…”

“That was **not** funny, Jamila…”

“Yeah, it was and you know it!” she laughed even more when he let out an exasperated sigh, “I don’t want you to be afraid of him, that’s all…” she looked back at Tabitha.

“He… he speaks our language…”

“I’m very fluent in all Earth languages… as well as other planets’.” he explained. She timidly nodded but looked at the professor.

“So… I can trust him…?”

“Of course. He wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t.”

“… Jamila…?” she asked and her best friend nodded, “That’s… pretty. Why do I feel so… comfortable around you?”

“I guess… it’s because I’m your best friend.”

“Oh! I’m… I’m sorry that I can’t remember.”

“It’s not your fault, hon…”

“But… I don’t want you upset with me. We’re best friends… and I can’t even remember that…” she slightly sighed and stared absentmindedly towards the door. Tabitha looked back at Jamila, “You have powers, too?” her question made her laugh a bit.

“Nah. I’m just ordinary…”

“She underestimates herself. Had it not been for her, you would still be out there, clueless about your abilities.” J’onn smiled warmly at the two. Jamila shrugged as Tabitha finally gathered enough courage to look fully at him. She studied his features and slightly blushed; he looked quite human to be a Martian. She had jumped the gun when she had first laid eyes on him, becoming intimidated by the skin tone and eyes alone. Now that she was looking at him, she felt that there was no real need to be afraid of him; she saw that he was friendly… and very handsome.

J’onn read her thoughts and couldn’t help but to reveal a smile; even with amnesia, she thought that he was handsome.

“Are you okay…?” he made her realize that she was staring at him. Tabitha blushed more and slightly turned away.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to stare…”

“Believe me, it’s fine.”

“… What’s your name?” she looked back at him.

“J’onn.”

“… Really? Not what I had expected for your name to be!” he was glad that she finally had a smile on her face, even if it was a small one. She nodded and her smile widened slowly, “That’s… really cute; J’onn… and Jamila…” she blushed at the fact that a giggle wanted to escape. The professor gave her a puzzled look as J’onn’s eyes immediately widened. He chuckled and looked at Jamila.

“She thinks we’re a couple…” he explained. Jamila’s eyes quickly widened as Tabitha looked at J’onn in shock.

“Wait, what?! No!!”

“How… how did you know what I was thinking…?”

“He can read minds; something that you always like to warn me about…”

“She had very good reason to…” J’onn’s mumbled comment made Jamila narrow her eyes at him.

“Anyway; no: we’re not the couple… the two of you are.” she tried to explain. It was enough to make Tabitha give the two a very shocked look.

“W-Wait… he’s **my** boyfriend?!” she asked and the two nodded. Her eyes misted over as she thought of how she had treated him, “No wonder you’ve been trying to be around me… I’m so sorry…”

“It’s… fine, really. Quite understandable, given your current state.”

“Oh; no one else knows that the two of you are dating…” Jamila added.

“Then… how do you know…?”

“I’m your best friend; duh! We tell each other everything!” she smiled, “You said that you feel comfortable around me; you didn’t feel anything at all around him?” Jamila wanted to know. Tabitha looked at the Martian once more, studying him in more detail.

“I… the only thing I wanted was for him to stay away at first; I thought he wanted to hurt me. But, now… I feel his concern for me…” she slightly blushed at the realization. Her reaction made the professor widen her smile.

“There it is; the blushing! I don’t think that will ever change!”

“I… blush a lot, I suppose…”

“Especially when…” Jamila received a slight warning glare from the Martian, “… Never mind; I’ll mention it later…”

“Maybe a small walk around will trigger something for you?” J’onn desperately wanted to change the subject. Tabitha looked at the Martian and then back at her wristband.

“I’m… allowed to…?”

“Who’s gonna tell the Martian Manhunter no?” Jamila smirked.

“Don’t listen to her… fully. I do not throw my weight around…”

“Look at him; he doesn’t **have** to!” Jamila finished. Tabitha simply looked at him and slowly nodded.

“I think I’ll agree with her on that…”

The three went through almost an entire wing of Watchtower however nothing triggered Tabitha’s memory, much to J’onn’s disappointment. When they approached a hallway with a view of outer space, she immediately stopped and looked outside.

“Oh, wow… are we in space? Cool…” she smiled a little. As she continued to look out of the panoramic window, Bruce and Wally approached her guides. The professor gave them a light smile.

“Mr. Wayne, Wally; good to see you two back on your feet!”

“It’s good to be back.” Bruce nodded. His attention immediately went towards Tabitha as she continued to marvel at the atmosphere, “How is she?”

“She’s completely healthy, aside from the memory loss.”

“She still doesn’t remember anything?” he wanted the question to stay inside of his head. He studied the Martian as he looked at Tabitha as well, “Is she still afraid of you?”

“I don’t believe so.” he was at least happy about that. Wally approached the young woman and looked into space with her.

“… Pretty neat, huh?”

“Yeah…” she breathed. She looked at him and immediately stuck her hand out, “I’m Tabitha.” she introduced. It was enough to produce a smile from Wally as he shook her hand.

“Wally.”

“Oh; you… probably already knew who I was, huh?” she realized and he nodded, “I must be pretty important; everyone seems to know me around here.”

“You’ve been here for three years, now. Every day, you do something that impresses everyone, just about. You might’ve figured this out but the Martian? He’s pretty much the cream of the crop here but you’ve beaten him in chess **and** training!” he explained. It was enough for her to shoot a quick look at J’onn.

“Whoa…”

“Yep! You can make almost anything indestructible. You’ve even beaten me quite a few times when we race and I’m the fastest man alive!” he continued. She let out a snort and covered her mouth to keep her laugh from escaping, “… What’s so funny?”

“The fastest man alive? I wouldn’t brag **too** much about that…” she smirked. Bruce cleared his throat to keep from laughing as Jamila shared a snort with her best friend.

“Touché, Tabs! Why hadn’t I thought of that before?” she cheered. Wally shook his head in defeat.

“I believe she was referring to…”

“I **know** what she was referring to, J’onn!”

“I’m sorry…” Tabitha tried not to laugh.

“It’s okay; I get that a lot… just surprised that it was from you this time…” he sighed but finally let out a small laugh.

“Wally… you weren’t making that stuff up, were you? You know; just to make me feel better?” she decided to try to change the subject. She found it slightly unbelievable that she was capable of doing the things he mentioned.

“No way! Are you kidding me? You’re one of the best members we got! To be honest, now that I think about it… you’re the most important one!”

“… I’m not in charge… am I? Because **that** would be pretty hard to believe!”

“No. But you’re the reason Watchtower itself functions right. We used to have non-superhero guys come here and do the repairs, maintain Watchtower and all that. But, when you came along… you replaced all of them.” Wally kept his smile.

“Really?! Whoa! How many people did I replace…?”

“Roughly fifteen.” J’onn joined in. The woman just shook her head.

“Unbelievable…” she said and dwelled on that thought. She was important and powerful enough to take care of Watchtower without help; it was no wonder everyone was truly concerned about her memory loss, she figured. She had a feeling that it was actually a small part of their reason to be concerned; she did feel that the people who she’d come across so far genuinely cared for her, especially the Martian. She blushed at the thought and looked back out of the window, “Um… are we going to continue the tour or… can I stay here for a while?”

“Whatever you like, Tabitha.” J’onn told her. She nodded and glanced at the group.

“I’d like to stay here for a while, then.”

“Do you want to be alone?” Bruce asked. She immediately shook her head.

“This place is ginormous; I don’t want to get lost! Besides; I have a feeling that you all know me the best… and I have a lot of questions for you!”

* * *

The group stayed there and chatted for some time, answering all the questions that Tabitha had. However, as much as she wanted to know about herself, she was just fine being the dominant listener. She enjoyed hearing about the others and tried her best to get an understanding of the part she played in their lives. It didn’t surprise her that she became immediately comfortable around the small group as they talked; it made her all the more determined to get her memory back.

She was glad that J’onn escorted her back to the infirmary alone; she had seen that while he had spoken at regular intervals, he would be more at ease in her presence alone. He looked at her as she stopped in front of the door leading to the hospital ward.

“If anything, I hope that you enjoyed yourself.”

“I did; thank you.” she gave him a polite nod.

“What’s wrong?” he, of course noticed that she was a bit hesitant.

“… Do I **have** to go back in there?”

“Is there anywhere else you’d like to go? I had sensed that you were tired and so…”

“Yeah; I’m exhausted! It’s just that… I’ve been in that room for about a week and… I really don’t like being in there, anymore…”

“I see…”

“You said that I have my own room here. Can I… go there?”

“As Wally has told you: you’re an important member; you can go wherever you like. I see no need to keep you in the infirmary any longer.” he told her and they made their way towards her room. The two of them stopped in front of her door, “I hope this makes you more comfortable than the infirmary. I’ll check on you in the morning…” he stopped himself when she gave him a confused look.

“N-No… can you… stay the night with me…?” her question gave him mixed emotions of shock and warmth; for the first time in a while, he was at a loss for words as he simply gazed at her.

“… Is that what you really want?” he wanted to make sure, the words finally making their way out of his mouth. She shrugged, blushed and looked down at her fingers.

“The woman with the dreads… Jamila. She said that you’re my boyfriend. So… I figured… it’s what we usually do… right? I think I need to start doing things like that. I would rather for you to…” her eyes suddenly widened and she shot a look at him, “Uh… well, not **do** what we would normally do but, um… wait… do we…” she blushed furiously, “This is coming out all wrong…” she tried. J’onn couldn’t help but to laugh.

“I’ll stay as long as you’d like for me to.” he assured as he put in the code to enter her room. She looked around to try to get some sort of familiarity, slightly frowning when none came her way. The bed wasn’t made however everything else in the room seemed to be in place.

“I’m a neat freak?” she asked as she continued to look around.

“I’m really not quite sure if it was something taught to you at an early age or if the Army taught you. You do like to keep things orderly.”

“You don’t know? I would’ve guessed that you knew everything about me. How long have we been dating?” she found it curious that he wasn’t sure of something about her.

“Almost two years, now.”

“And no one else knows?! How do they **not** know after all this time?! Oh…” the thought finally occurred to her, “So, I guess this is something that we really **don’t** do often…”

“I care for you a lot, Tabitha…”

“Are you an important member as well?”

“Yes. I’m one of the founding members.”

“Okay. I understand now. So… if you don’t want to stay here with me, you don’t have to…”

“What would you like?” he asked. She looked down at her hands for a moment and then back up at him.

“… I’d like for you to stay…”

“… Anything for you…”

* * *

For the first time since the two started to date, J’onn had stayed the entire night in her room. It gave him a lot of time to think about a lot of things, including their relationship. He admitted that he was afraid to let the other League members know about them… because it would be admitting that he had a human trait inside of him after all. He knew that it was bound to happen; he had lived amongst the Earthlings for over fifty years. However, the Martian had expected to at least keep the romance trait as far away from his heart as possible. As she shifted and her head settled deeper into his chest, he blushed and smiled; he had to admit that her falling asleep to his heartbeat was something he wouldn’t trade for in the world.

A month had gone by since Tabitha Lyght had suffered complete memory loss and she was just as frustrated as the others who she had learned were her closest and dearest friends. She was even visited by her natural family however nothing triggered her memory. The only thing she knew were the stories and other information everyone else had told her. She at least was glad that she had control over her lightning abilities however she had no idea how to use them to their former potential. She knew that with time she would relearn everything but at the moment, she felt totally useless to the league of superheroes.

The only thing he wanted was his old girlfriend back; J’onn was at wit’s end as to how to go about doing so. He knew that there was no certain timetable for when she would regain her memory; the Watchtower medics had told him that it would happen on its own. He never expected that after a month, she would still be clueless about her life before becoming possessed. The Martian carried a terrible burden; he blamed himself for her accident. However, he felt that there was no other way to make the demon release its hold on her body and soul; it was far too powerful for Tala to control, as it was witnessed. He knew that what he had done was highly dangerous and painful, especially being done to a human; he had never expected for her to die from it.

He watched from behind the glass pane as Tabitha went through yet another CAT scan. He knew that nothing had changed but admired that she had taken it in stride and without complaint. J’onn had made up his mind that he would be the one to make sure Tabitha regained her memory. He was just stuck with how to go about doing so. He thought about two options; one: he could simply kiss her. It was only in theory however he felt that it could be possible that what she needed to trigger her memory was something that she was used to in the past. He had thought back to what she had mentioned when she was attacked by his twin brother; the only reason she knew that it wasn’t him was because the kiss was different. Maybe a kiss would indeed bring back some type of memory to her. However, he knew that she wasn’t **that** comfortable with him just yet; kissing her could very well alienate her from him altogether.

The other option that came to mind was for him to use one of his abilities to make her remember. J’onn sighed slightly; why hadn’t he thought of that earlier? He was capable of manipulating anyone’s mind into seeing, hearing and thinking whatever **he** deemed fit; he was sure that he could very well make her remember her lost memories.

He waited until the medics were nearly done with their examination before making his way into the room. Before he could move, however, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned and was looking into Shayera’s green eyes.

“How are you holding up?” she simply asked him. It surprised him; he was used to people asking about Tabitha and not about himself. Seeing the lost look in her eyes had taken its toll on him but he didn’t want to admit it to anyone.

“What…?”

“You can try to hide it all you want but… you look as tired as she looks lost. What was on your mind?” she asked. J’onn wanted to actually break down and tell her everything; how much he loved her, how watching her struggle made his heart ache and especially how he constantly blamed himself for everything she was suffering through.

“I need to help her. I can’t shake the feeling that this is my fault…” he decided to keep it simple.

“You did what you thought was right. For as long as I’ve known you, that is the one thing I know for certain that you’ll do. Besides; there’s not much anyone can do for her right now.” she told him. J’onn continued to look at Tabitha, a small smile appearing on his lips as she took notice of the two and shyly waved at them.

“… I can make her remember…”

“J’onn… that won’t solve anything. You’ll be planting fake memories…”

“I know everything about her; how would they be fake?”

“Maybe not fake. More like… manufactured. It wouldn’t be natural. If you truly love her, you’ll let her regain her memories on her own.” she truly shocked the Martian. He gave her a surprised look as she laughed a bit, “I’ve seen how the two of you look at each other when you think no one’s looking…” she smirked. It was enough to make J’onn sigh out.

“Who else knows? Have I tried to hide this in vain?” he looked back at his girlfriend.

“Like I’ve told her; I don’t know why you’re trying to hide it! I think it’s really sweet. But, as far as I know, it’s just me. I still say just let it run its course; she’ll remember soon enough.”

* * *

The two were on one of their routinely walks around Watchtower. She had grown used to them and actually looked forward to spending time with the Martian. He was nothing but nice to her, as well as caring and she also saw hints of him wanting to be loving towards her. The actual thought of J’onn being her boyfriend was still a bit weird to her; she had expected for him to be with one of the non-human super heroines rather than herself. However, the more they spent time with each other, the more she saw how well-matched they were. It started to make sense to her why: the Monitor of Watchtower **should** date the one who made sure that Watchtower functioned properly.

He was glad that she started walking closer and closer to him with each walk; he was tempted to hold her hand on several occasions. However, the closest she ever gotten to him after getting amnesia was the night she fell asleep on him. While it warmed his heart to the fullest, J’onn knew that it wasn’t the most important thing at the moment.

“So… where are we going today?”

“The storage area.” he answered as they stopped in front of a large door. He entered his security code as Tabitha looked at him strangely.

“A security code for a storage area? Most be something pretty important in here…”

“A few items that were confiscated from our many missions.” J’onn told her as the door opened. She looked on at the various items in amazement.

“A few? Wow…” were the only words that came to mind. She immediately went towards the back; the one thing that caught her attention was the Annihilator battle suit. The black and silver suit barely fit inside the area with Tabitha looking up to marvel at its size. She wanted to touch it but something told her not to. She backed away and looked at J’onn.

“What’s wrong?”

“… I don’t know. I just had a feeling that… I didn’t need to touch this… or be near it for that matter…”

“Hmm… even though you should pay attention to that feeling, there’s nothing in here that should make you remember anything. Except for this…” J’onn motioned towards a shelf. Nothing occupied it except a lone copper container. Where a lock would be, in its place was an amulet with the Seal of Solomon engraved onto it.

“This looks like some old box. What is it…?”

“The actual container isn’t important; it’s what’s inside…”

“ ** _The Martian’s right, Tabitha. I’m so glad you finally came to visit me…_** ” the container hissed. It was enough for her to immediately hide behind J’onn.

“Oooh; a talking box: I think I’ve seen it all, now…” she mentioned. J’onn narrowed his eyes at the container.

“There is no escaping for you…”

“ ** _Are you sure about that? Tabitha… release me…_** ”

“W-What…? How… does it know me?”

“It’s a demon inside that container. It possessed you…”

“… Something evil…”

“Yes.”

“ ** _Oh, don’t let him fool you! He’s the reason why you lost your memory; that would make him the evil one…_** ”

“N-No. You’re wrong. I may have lost my memory but I can tell that you’re lying; he wouldn’t do that to me…”

“ ** _Ask him who extracted me from you. Did he think that he was only extracting me and not something that was a vital part of you?_** ” it asked. The Martian widened his eyes at the demon’s words and immediately clenched his fists as he stepped closer to the container.

“You… **you’re** the real reason why she can’t remember anything?!” he fumed. His anger only made the demon laugh.

“ ** _All he had to do was let us be, Tabitha. But, because he had to interfere; because he wanted to save his beloved, your memories are stuck with me, now!_** ” the demon hissed. Tabitha looked at J’onn.

“What is it talking about?”

“I… I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted that demon out of you. I went inside of you myself to get it out. It was very risky… and we lost you for a moment…” he remembered lowly, “I would have never thought that it would’ve taken your memory away…” he explained. Tabitha simply nodded.

“I’m not upset with you; I know how much you really care about me. I just would like to remember…”

“ ** _I have a solution. You only have to let a portion of myself merge with you; I will restore your memories…_** ”

“No! Be quiet!!” J’onn snapped at the container.

“ ** _I’ll even throw in some immortality. Just to think; you’ll have all of your precious memories back and will live longer than the Martian._** ” it laughed. J’onn shook his head.

“I wish you could remember. All the pain that it caused you because it was trying to take your soul away. You were in so much agony… you asked me to kill you.” he looked at her. She let out a small gasp, “I don’t believe that the only way to get your memory back is through… that thing. We’ll find a way, I promise you.” he finished. She slowly nodded and looked back at the box.

“… I’m sorry talking-demon-box; I’m not letting you out…”

“ ** _Then I hope you enjoy living the rest of your life without your memories!!_** ”

* * *

She had asked J’onn to gather everyone, including Jamila in the control room; she didn’t want to exclude anyone. She had weeks to think about her decision and knew that there would be no easy way to let everyone know. She looked at everyone and held her tears back. She knew that she had a special bond with everyone before so it didn’t surprise her that she had the urge to cry. Tabitha took in a deep breath.

“I, um… I wanted to thank everyone for trying to help me remember everything. I’m so sorry that it’s still taking so long…” she tried to explain.

“We completely understand; it’s okay…” Diana tried but Tabitha shook her head.

“No. It’s not. After hearing all the stories about everything that I’ve done and seeing what I am now, I feel… I don’t know. Useless, I guess. And now I know that I’ll never get my memory back…”

“How do you know this?” Bruce asked.

“J’onn showed me the box that has the demon inside of it. It took my memory when J’onn took it out of me. I’m not stupid; I’m not making a bargain with a demon! So, I’ve made the decision to… to leave. I just… wanted to tell everyone thank you… and goodbye.”

“Wait… what?!” Wally looked at her.

“Tabs…” Jamila bit her lip. The only emotion that J’onn showed was the shock that registered on everyone else’s faces; the rest of his emotions were kept at bay. Tabitha approached him, in her hands was her communicator.

“J’onn… I’m announcing my resignation from the Justice League…”

“You don’t have to this, Tabitha…” he quietly announced, shaking his head.

“I don’t know how to use my powers like I used to; I don’t… belong here. You guys are all really great people… and I appreciate everything that you’ve done to try to make me feel at home…” Tabitha continued.

“Well, at least we’ll be able to visit you at doc’s place, right?” Wally looked at the professor, who immediately nodded. However, Tabitha shook her head.

“I’m not moving in with Jamila. I… wouldn’t feel comfortable living there right now. It’s nothing against you but I don’t want to feel like a burden…” she looked at her best friend. She had let out a gasp and a couple of tears at the announcement.

“You were never a burden, ever! I took you in when I knew jack shit about you; I’ll be more than glad to take you in, now! I could even help you relearn your abilities, just like before!” she cried. A bit of a tinge coursed through her chest seeing the older woman in tears; the sight was enough to make her own tears finally appear.

“I’m so sorry, Jamila…”

“No, stop! Stop calling me that! Damnit, it’s doc; for as long as I’ve known you, it’s always been doc!!”

“Jamila…” Bruce tried to calm her down but Jamila immediately snatched away from him.

“She **has** to remember! How will she know if we don’t constantly tell her?! Tabs…” she cut herself short; she wanted to desperately tell her how her decision was very unfair to J’onn. Regardless of her memory loss, Jamila felt that Tabitha’s decision to leave was too sudden and drastic. How could she do this to J’onn knowing how he feels about her, she franticly thought.

“ _Jamila… this isn’t about me._ ” J’onn had read Jamila’s thoughts, “ _Trust me, I don’t like this as much as you do. But, in her mind, we’re still complete strangers to her. She isn’t doing this to purposely hurt anyone._ We have to let her go.” he calmly told Jamila. She shot an angry look at him.

“No! How in the hell can you be so calm about this?! How can **any** of you let her leave like this?!”

“She’s not a child. If this is what she wants… we have to respect it.” Clark sadly agreed with the decision. Jamila wiped at her eyes and looked at her best friend.

“Where will you go; to your parents’ house?” she tried to calm herself down. She admitted that the thought didn’t occur to her until that moment; it may had been the reason why everyone was so calm about her decision.

“I don’t want to go somewhere where I’ll be babied all the time, either…” Tabitha surprised everyone.

“W-What?! Where will you go, then?! You can’t just roam the damn streets!! J’onn, please; stop her…” Jamila pleaded. The slow shaking of his head made more tears flow down her cheeks.

“… I can’t…” he told her. Jamila looked back at Tabitha, who wiped at the tears falling from her eyes. She bit her lip and looked down at her hands; she couldn’t bear to look at the professor crying any longer. She turned around to face J’onn, handing him her communicator, “If you ever change your mind…” he tried. J’onn wanted to plead right along with Jamila for her to stay however he knew that it was her decision to make; he couldn’t stop her. Tabitha simply shook her head, opening her mouth to speak but was abruptly interrupted by a sharp blow to the head. The blow was hard enough to knock her down to her knees, holding the side of her head in obvious pain.

“Jamila!” Diana, along with the rest of the members looked at her in complete shock; they were not prepared for the professor to attack her best friend with her clasped fists. She didn’t know what else to do; her best friend was leaving, willing to give up without much of a fight. She had a slight relapse in reality; the clichéd blows to the head had always worked in the movies…

Before anyone could apprehend Jamila or even question her, Tabitha slowly got up and glared at the woman.

“What… the… FUCK, doc?! You tryna give me a gaddamn concussion or something?! What the hell was that for?!” she immediately approached her. Her outburst made Jamila sob franticly.

“I-I-I’m sorry; I’m so sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! You were leaving us for no g……… did you just call me doc…?”

“I got plenty of other words to call your ass so you better be glad it’s the **only** thing I called you!”

“… What’s my favorite color…?”

“What the fuck… purple; I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with you but… wait…” she gave Jamila a strange look. After a few moments, her eyes widened and she grabbed her by the shoulders, “Doc!!”

“Holy fucking shit… it actually worked…” Jamila mused and hugged Tabitha with all of her might.

“I… remember, now. Everything. How…? That demon said…” she thought about the ordeal and shook her head, “It lied.”

“Makes sense; all it wanted to do was escape by any means necessary…” Bruce figured out. Tabitha nodded but slightly blushed as J’onn approached her.

“I take it that you will withdraw your resignation…?” he simply asked her, handing her communicator back. She smiled and took it back, “ _Thank you so very much…_ ”

* * *

After another checkup, Tabitha was released to her room. When she opened the door and let J’onn in, the two immediately embraced and shared a long, passionate kiss. The only thing he could do was cup her face and look deeply into her eyes. No longer was the “lost” look there, he smiled widely at the familiarity of her whiskey brown eyes that seemed to dance with life. He closed his eyes, rested his forehead against hers and let out a long sigh, one that had been held in for nearly a month.

“… Why…” he wanted to know. The Martian had so many questions for her and really didn’t know which ones to ask first. He wanted to know why she had left without telling anyone, why she made the decision to go after Luthor on her own… and why she simply didn’t tell him her intentions, period.

“I’m so sorry…” she whispered. She knew what he wanted to know and had felt that the whole ordeal was entirely her fault; had she let him or anyone for that matter know what she was up to, she would’ve had backup. She had no idea that the egotistical man would do something that cruel to her.

“You’re safe now… as well as back to normal. I’m very relieved…” he admitted. Although he was a bit upset that she would do something like that on her own, he was happy that she was now safe in his arms. It wasn’t her fault that she wanted answers from the criminal mastermind; it was him who decided to go through with his elaborate scheme to grab her attention.

That thought suddenly angered J’onn; he had gone out of his way to draw her to him. The Martian could argue that the demon possession was not Luthor’s doing however he had done nothing to stop or even fix the error; both he and Tala were guilty of causing that much pain to his girlfriend. The notion had forced the Justice League to fight one of their own, something that he absolutely loathed. The icing on the cake, the one thought that made him start to seethe was that… she had asked for death. Tabitha was in so much pain, was so desperate for the demon to be defeated that she was willing to become sacrificed. He could’ve dealt with everything if Luthor would had simply kidnapped her, holding her against her will. But, this? This was unforgivable even for the Martian Manhunter.

She had actually felt his anger brewing inside of him and immediately let him go.

“… You okay…?” she tried. Without a word, he turned to leave. She had to run to catch up to him as he made his way to the control room, “J’onn!” she already knew what he was up to, what was on his mind.

“I need to have a talk with Luthor…” he confirmed. Before he could make his way to the teleportation pads, Tabitha did a Lightning Cloud and was facing him.

“I’m coming with you. And let me remind you that I can do Lightning Cloud all day…”

“… You know that I can phase through you…”

“I know. But it ain’t gonna stop me from trying…” she almost glared at him. He knew that she would keep her word and sighed slightly.

“Let’s go.”

The two arrived at the LexCorp building in Metropolis with J’onn shifting into a human form. She cringed as she remembered what happened to her as the two walked inside. The same receptionist from before actually got up from her seat and smiled warmly at the two. Tabitha had a longing to shock the poor woman but reminded herself that she may not have known what happened to her.

“Miss Lyght! I’m so glad to see you, again! Mr. Luthor will be thrilled!”

“… I just bet. He’s here?”

“Yes. You know where his office is. B-But…” she went around the desk as the two made their way towards the elevators, “He has to be checked in…” she nodded towards J’onn. He stopped dead in his tracks, turned and glared at the woman. Before he could do anything, Tabitha stepped in between the two.

“If you knew what’s good for you, you’d get back behind that damn desk; you don’t want none of that…” she warned the receptionist. The woman took a noticeable gulp, nodded and meekly went back to her seat. As the two got on the elevator and the doors closed, J’onn shifted back to his normal form. Tabitha stared at him, wishing that she had his ability to read his mind. He slowly shook his head.

“You **don’t** want to know what I’m thinking right about now!”

“Maybe I should handle things from here…”

“It wouldn’t be as effective.” he told her. The elevator suddenly stopped on the eighth floor and the doors slowly opened to reveal Tala about to get on. Two things surprised Tabitha; J’onn hadn’t bothered to shift back to his human form and he immediately grabbed Tala by her neck, slamming her into one of the hallway walls.

“Shit; J’onn, no!!” Tabitha quickly approached the two. He had the woman pinned against the wall, glaring angrily at her, his red eyes glowing.

“You possessed her with that demon!!” he snarled and squeezed tighter around her neck. Tabitha was reminded of her initial dream of the Justice Lord J’onn and feared for Tala’s life as she struggled to even cough.

“Don’t do this, please; she ain’t worth it!”

“It’s because of her that you suffered…” he didn’t bother to look at his girlfriend; his attention stayed on Tala.

“I told you to let me handle it!” she tried, yet again. He slowly shook his head and continued to glare at Tala, lifting her off of her feet. Tabitha’s heart raced; she had never seen the Martian react in that way: he had every intention on killing her… and possibly whoever else got in his way, “Jesus fucking Christ… J’onn J’onzz, if you kill her… I’ll leave…” she panicked. She was glad that it was enough to make him finally look over at her, releasing some of the pressure he had around Tala’s neck.

“Tabitha…”

“I mean it. I’ll leave you, I’ll leave the Justice League; I’ll fucking disappear! This ain’t the right way; this ain’t **your** way… and you know it…” she tried. As he calmed down, he knew that she was right. J’onn finally saw what Tabitha had to go through earlier in her Metahuman life, how easy it was for the rage to consume someone. It made him slightly ashamed that he, of all people, was about to succumb to an emotion he hadn’t had in quite some time.

As J’onn was about to release his hold completely on Tala, his eyes widened and then narrowed as he saw that she was about to conjure up her magic. He slammed her harder into the wall, making the magic that formed around her hands disappear. Tabitha widened her eyes at the woman.

“Really?! I’m tryna talk him down and you’re gonna provoke him like that?! Okay… as much as I’d **now** like to see you snap her neck… it ain’t gonna change what they did to me…” she glared at Tala. He had to agree yet again with his girlfriend; while he would feel much better for making her pay for her defiance, it wouldn’t change the fact that she was jealous enough to conjure a demon. If he had killed the woman, it would be something that he would have to live with and for what; he would still seethe over what they had done to the one he loved. And then there was the fact of her earlier threat: Tabitha would leave, altogether. J’onn shook his head; for that reason alone, it wasn’t worth it. He reluctantly released his hold on Tala, letting her drop to the ground and walked back towards the elevator. Tabitha glared down at the woman as she was finally able to cough and breathe normally, “The next time he loses it… I ain’t stopping him…” she said and joined her boyfriend back on the elevator. The Martian sighed heavily and looked at Tabitha.

“Did you mean that? You would leave…?”

“I meant every word. You don’t kill… ever…”

“I’m sorry…” he wanted to explain everything to her. Her own heavy sighing stopped him from doing so; he had a feeling that she knew.

“… I don’t know if I should say it’s okay or what; don’t know what I’d do if I was in your shoes…” she slightly mumbled. Probably the same thing, she concluded, “We really don’t need you flipping your shit at Luthor; would you **please** let me handle it?” she gave him a serious yet concerned face. The Martian could be menacing; one look at him in his irate stage and there was no telling what Lex Luthor would do!

“Fine… but I **will** be nearby…” he promised. As the doors opened to the top floor, J’onn made himself invisible. Tabitha immediately approached the desk where Luthor was sitting at. He turned around and smiled widely at her, his green eyes beaming.

“Oh, Miss Lyght! I have been worried sick about you…” he tried however a stream of lightning flew past him, barely missing his right side.

“You got two seconds to talk or I won’t miss next time…” she glared at him. He slightly smiled at her threat.

“Now, why would you threaten me? I’ve been nothing but nice to you…”

“‘Nice’?!?! You sick son-of-a-bitch…” waves of electricity flowed around her arms.

“Even with that cursed demon inside of you… which I did not approve of… I proved to be your most loyal… and obedient servant…” he slyly smiled, making his way towards her. She stopped charging up and gave him a confused look.

“… What…?”

“You don’t remember, my dear? Hmm… looks like the demon lied to me; it said that you were able to hear… and feel… everything…” that sultry look of his came into play. Once she realized what he meant, she blushed furiously, “Maybe, I could remind you…” he tried to approach her however he felt as though he ran into a wall, “What’s this… a force field…” he tried. When J’onn made himself visible, it was enough to startle both Lex and Tabitha, especially the way he glared down at the human man. Tabitha widened her eyes towards him.

“I-I-I swear to God, I don’t remember none of that…” she quickly added.

“The Martian Manhunter in the flesh! I see that your overprotectiveness has no boundaries…” Luthor smiled. The smug grin quickly disappeared as J’onn started to stalk him.

“You… had sex with Tabitha…?” he started to fume.

“I don’t see how any of that is of your… concern…… oh… dear God…” he finally figured out once the Martian had him backed into a wall. Luthor shot Tabitha a shocked look, “You’re taken by **him**?!” he stumbled. It was her turn to have a smug smile on her face as she nodded; she had worried about how J’onn would react to everything however, seeing the look on Lex Luthor’s face was very well worth not stopping the Martian.

“If you **ever** invade her dreams again… the next time we meet, it will **not** be pleasant! No forms of force that you are able to manifest would be able to stop me! If you even come within a mile near her… I will not only telepathically assault you but erase everything that ever came to be in your mind… to the point where you won’t remember how to **breathe**!”

“… Shit…” Tabitha breathed out for Luthor. She gently grabbed J’onn by the arm, “Um…”

“Mark my words, Lex Luthor; touch her again and I will definitely show you the reason why I am the sole survivor of an entire planet!” he continued to glare at the man.

“I… really think he gets it! Seriously; you just literally scared the piss outta him! Let’s go…” she urged. The Martian reluctantly turned away.

“… Be thankful that she has been rehabilitated…” were the last words Luthor heard as the two left. He finally stopped shaking long enough to buzz his receptionist.

“Yes, Mr. Luthor?”

“…… I’m going to need a new pair of pants…” 


	22. Divided

The ordeal that Tabitha had gone through with Lex Luthor prompted Bruce to conduct an investigation on the man; he knew that Luthor was always attempting to make the Justice League look rogue to the public eye. As one of the rare members with no super abilities whatsoever, he couldn’t help but to slightly see his point of view; the rest of the world could see them as a threat because of their powers, alone. What or who would stop Clark, for example, if he wanted to suppress the people on Earth, save some Kryptonite? A regular human like himself really didn’t pose a threat to other humans; he could easily be stopped by bullets and force by numbers. But how would someone stop a superhuman… a group of them? Bruce was glad that the others wouldn’t go rogue… however, he had means to stop every last one of them, just in case.

It was long overdue however J’onn insisted for Tabitha to invite Ramil and Ashley aboard Watchtower; they were to receive special recognition from the Martian himself for what they had done for his girlfriend. As the three made their way to the large conference room, Ashley shrugged at the idea.

“All he had to say was thanks; this isn’t necessary…”

“That ain’t him. You’ve saved my life twice… that means a lot to him…” she smiled, “Plus, it wasn’t all his idea. The council…”

“The council…?”

“The other founding members; I call ‘em the council.” she told Ramil, “Anyway; they wanted to thank you, too.”

“Oh… still… a thank you would’ve been more than enough…” Ashley cut herself short as Tabitha escorted them inside. The six founding members stayed seated but looked brightly at the husband and wife. They both shot glances at Tabitha, who only stepped to the side and kept her smile.

“Ramil and Ashley Jones. There aren’t many who can say that they’ve saved a Justice League member’s life, let alone twice. I’ve spoken with the others and we all came to this decision: because of your heroic actions, we will like to extend membership to you both.” J’onn announced. The two gave everyone shocked looks and finally turned to look at Tabitha. She laughed.

“He’s asking you to become a part of the Justice…”

“We **know** what he meant!” Ramil laughed, shaking his head. He put his attention back to the founding members and nodded, “We’d be honored…” he said. The group smiled at the two and gave them a round of applause. Tabitha put her arms around both of their shoulders.

“Good; welcome to the Justice League! As our newest members, you’ll have to go through some series of required training. If you wanna go back to Earth, just make sure you’re here on time for training. While J’onn’s getting you communicators, I’ll take you on a tour!” she escorted the two out of the room. Bruce looked at the Martian.

“You told her to do that…?”

“…No…”

“Hmm…” he couldn’t help but to smirk towards the door.

* * *

It was rare for the Justice League members to have a break, especially during the holidays. However, as they found that no missions were being issued, everyone took it to their advantage and made plans.

“Are you spending time with your family for the holiday, too?” Clark asked Tabitha as she made her way towards the control room. She smiled brightly and nodded.

“Just feels kinda weird leaving Watchtower for a while…”

“J’onn will be here so if something comes up, I’m pretty sure he can handle it…” he nodded.

“Oh…” she realized that he had no family. She felt slightly guilty that there she was, making plans on spending Christmas on Earth when her boyfriend had no one to celebrate with… except with her, “Well… there’s no need for him to be alone!”

“You’re changing your plans so that he won’t be here alone…?” it puzzled him. He knew that the two had bonded over the years but he never would had guessed that he meant **that** much to her. She gave him a smirk and shook her head.

“No; I’m gonna invite him to spend the holidays with me!” she smiled. She shot the man a look as he slightly snickered, “What?”

“Good luck with that…”

“What you tryna say… he wouldn’t?”

“I don’t think he’ll be that comfortable around your family. Maybe the Lindseys…”

“Hmph… we’ll see. Happy holidays, Clark!”

“Same to you… and do let me know how that goes when you get back!” he lightly laughed as he walked away. She refrained from sticking her tongue out at him; he didn’t know that the Martian would have no choice but to spend the holidays with his girlfriend! She pressed a button on her communicator, calling her family.

“Tabitha! Tell me you’re coming home for the holidays…” her mother didn’t even bother to say “hello”!

“How’d you know it was me?”

“The caller ID; a whole bunch of zeroes come up whenever you call!” she laughed.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a few. Mom… I’m bringing J’onn with me…” she tried. She knew that there would be silence on the other end; her family was still trying to get used to the fact that the two were dating, “Mooom…”

“I’m sorry, honey…”

“Wait; you’re telling me no…?”

“No! O-Of course, you can bring him; he’s your boyfriend, now…” her voice trailed off. It prompted Tabitha to huff.

“I know that he’s… different, but so am I, now. I just want y’all to get to know him better… please?”

“Alright, dear. We’ll see you two in a few minutes, then…”

“Thank you, mom!” she ended the call. She smiled and strolled over towards J’onn, who was at his usual spot over the controls of Watchtower. He turned and smiled at her, “So… whatcha doing for the holidays…?” she smiled back.

“What I always do; stay he… why are you shaking your head…?”

“Seriously? You’re gonna let your girlfriend spend the holidays alone?! No way; come on…” she tried to shove him away from the control panel.

“W-Wait… Tabitha…”

“What?”

“I can’t just… leave…”

“You said it yourself, J’onn J’onzz; you’re always in contact with Watchtower so no problems there! You got no excuses now, let’s go!” she was now attempting to pull him away by his arm.

“Well… it **has** been a while since I’ve seen the Lindseys…”

“Nuh uh; my folks’ house…” her words made him stop dead in his tracks.

“Tabitha…” he widened his eyes at her. She stopped trying to push him towards the teleportation pads and huffed loudly at him.

“What, now? Look, I already told ‘em we were coming; don’t make me out to be a liar!”

“You expect for me to go… like this…?”

“Oh, my God; it ain’t like they ain’t seen you like this before!” she rolled her eyes and laughed, “Don’t make me use force now, come on!” she tried pushing him from behind.

“You’re going to continue to try to get me to leave… aren’t you?”

“Yep!”

“So… there’s no way I’m going to win this battle… am I…?”

“Nope!"

* * *

She was surprised as well as excited to see the snowfall that happened in Chattanooga. It had been a while since she’d seen any precipitation, let alone snow; she felt like a kid all over again. The trees that lined the street were covered however the driveways and streets had been cleared; the current snowfall was threatening to undo the hard work. The Martian looked on in slight amazement as his girlfriend stuck her tongue out to catch a few of the falling flakes.

“Why would you do that; do you know what snow is made of…”

“Don’t spoil it for me, Martian…”

“I will never understand you, human…” he actually smiled at her childish behavior as she squinted and stuck her tongue out at him. Her playful mood was interrupted as she stopped to study her parents’ home, “What’s wrong?” he noticed quickly. She studied the yard more and narrowed her eyes. Usually, the snow removed from the streets, sidewalks and driveways were shoveled into large piles on the side or towards the curbs; she saw that someone had clearly made what looked like a wall in the yard. When she saw that the driveway was occupied by more cars than usual, her eyes widened.

“Ambush!” she quickly pulled J’onn with her as they headed for the nearest car. No sooner had the two ducked behind it, they heard the thumps of snowballs hitting the vehicle, “Shit; start making snowballs!”

“… What…” he noticed that she had already made a few.

“If you wanna go to war, I’ll take your asses to war!![1]” she launched a snowball grenade-styled over the car towards the makeshift fort, “You gotta be my eyes; how many of ‘em are there…?” she went back to making snowballs. Confused, J’onn stood up from their hiding spot, to make sense of what was going on. Before he could, he was hit with a snowball.

“OOH!! Tango down, men!!”

“What…? Oh, J’onn; did you get hit?! Damnit…”

“He’s out; you’re on your own, now, Tabby!!”

“Good one, Ty; we got the important one out the w… oh, shit…”

“Tabby, tell him he ain’t supposed to move!!”

“Wha…” she got up from her hiding spot in time to see the Martian walking towards her brothers, “Oh… J’onn, stop!!” she did a Lightning Cloud to face him, “We’re just playing around…” she tried to explain. She wiped the remainder of the snowball from his chest as he looked down at her.

“Throwing snowballs… is some sort of a game…?”

“You’ve never seen a snowball fight before…?”

“No…” he shook his head. She opened her mouth to say something but was quickly interrupted as a snowball hit her in the back.

“You’re out!” Terry snickered. Tabitha sighed and rolled her eyes.

“And now, we’ve lost… revenge will be cold… and in a bowl!!” she shook her fists at her brothers who erupted into laughter.

“… Revenge is a dish best served cold…” J’onn corrected, a smile playing on his lips. Before she could retaliate, the oldest of the Lyght siblings approached the two.

“Sorry ‘bout that; we kinda get carried away when we get together. The Martian Manhunter, huh? Thomas…” he introduced himself. The man was as tall and muscular as their father however he was an even mixture of the parents. The Martian shook his hand.

“You can call me J’onn.”

“J’onn? I like that. Kinda French.”

“It’s as close as humans can pronounce my real name.”

“Ah. Yeah; our names are pretty easy: Tyler, Tim and I think you’ve already met Terry. Mom was on a roll after she named me and Tim; figured she give the rest of us T names!” he introduced the other brothers. Tyler was the second youngest; J’onn saw that he and Tabitha could’ve easily passed for twins. Tim favored the Lyght siblings’ mother more than any of them and was the second oldest.

The Lyght children had settled down in the living room while the Martian talked to the parents; Tabitha figured that the only way for the three to get to know one another was for it to be in private.

“How long you guys gonna be here?” Tabitha took a sip of her hot chocolate.

“I’m leaving day after Christmas; gotta work to pay the bills…” Thomas shrugged.

“School ain’t starting back until second week of January. Then, it’s back to Tuscaloosa!”

“Me and Ty staying ‘til after New Year’s.” Tim explained. She curled up in the chair and nodded.

“So… you and J’onn dating?” Thomas looked at his sister. She blushed and nodded.

“I knew it…” Terry eyed her.

“Y’all okay with that…?”

“Are you shitting me?! You know you’re set for life, right?” Tyler pointed out. She gave him a weird look.

“Wha…?”

“You’re with the Martian Manhunter; who’s gonna fuck with you?!”

“Yeah… so much for your brothers having your back, threatening your boyfriends to treat you right or else!” Tim huffed out.

“Yeah; go ahead and make that threat to **him** and see what happens!” Thomas pointed out and the men laughed. Tabitha blushed furiously.

“Well… n-no one knows that we’re dating…”

“Whaaat…?” Thomas eyed her in amusement. She didn’t want to explain everything to them; she knew that they wouldn’t understand. She was happy that her brothers accepted him without question.

“Only people who can keep their big mouths shut know…”

“Why…?” Terry asked.

“It’s a… superhero thing. Folks find out that we’re together and guess what; villains gonna come out and harass either me or him. That’s why a lot of us have secret identities.”

“Oh. That makes sense…” Tyler nodded.

“So, wait… does that mean you know who Batman is…?” Terry lit up. Tabitha sighed and nodded, “Who is he…?”

“He’s a detective on the Gotham police force…” she looked at him.

“No shit? For real?!”

“No; why in the hell would I tell you who Batman really is?!” she laughed at her brother’s disappointed face.

“ _… I’m feeling really uncomfortable with your father…_ ” J’onn’s voice almost echoed in her brain. She suddenly sat straight up and looked at her brothers.

“Where’s daddy…?”

“Oh… he’s… ‘interviewing’ J’onn…” Thomas smiled. She widened her eyes and then narrowed them towards the hallway.

“He wouldn’t…”

He sat across from Curtis Lyght and waited for the man to speak. He felt slightly uneasy that the human only looked at him as if he was studying him. The Martian knew that his girlfriend got his telepathic message and wondered what was taking her so long to either reply or come “rescue” him. He wasn’t used to this, being stared down by the father of the one that he loved. He wanted to go through his mind, to see what exactly he was thinking about but opted not to out of respect. Maybe this was a human tradition? He had a slightly painful thought; how would he react to someone that was courting **his** daughter? J’onn started to understand the human man…

“What are your intentions with my baby girl?” the man finally decided to speak. The question actually shocked him. His intentions with Tabitha? He only wanted to love her; wouldn’t that be anyone’s intention with one another? He was sadly reminded that human ways were vastly different from his. He was living on a planet where money and sex were huge factors in a relationship; it was as if everyone had given up on true love. He kept his smile to himself; he knew that their relationship was based on more, much more and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

He was about to respond until Tabitha rushed into the room, glaring at her father.

“Daddy!” she warned.

“Go back in there and help your mother cook, honey; this is men folk business…” he said without looking at her. Her eyes widened.

“Really?! This ain’t the… the…”

“The fifties…”

“Thank you! I didn’t invite him over for you to make him uncomfortable! J’onn… could you go and talk to my brothers; they won’t give you the fifth…”

“… Third…”

“… Third degree! How is it that you have no clue what a snowball fight is but you know our sayings?” she eyed J’onn. She shook her head, “Never mind! Just… leave me and daddy alone for a minute, please…” she asked. J’onn nodded and got up from his seat. Before he left, he looked at her father.

“I have every intention on treating your daughter how she deserves to be treated. Our relationship is not based on lust, as I’ve seen that is the case with the majority of human relationships. The way I treat her is definitely not by human standards… she is worth more than that to me…” he nodded and left, leaving Tabitha completely red. She watched him as he left the room and finally put her attention towards her father, who had a wide smile on his face.

“… S-Stop… d-don’t look at me like that!” she stuttered and sighed, “Daddy… I’m not a teenager no more…”

“I know.” he sighed almost sadly. Curtis slowly nodded and looked at his daughter, “… I like him…” he surprised her, “He may be a Martian but he got a lot of heart… and that’s all that matter. How much does he mean to you?” he looked at her seriously. She continued to blush.

“A… he means a lot, daddy…”

“So, you love him…”

“I… I don’t feel comfortable talking…”

“Thought you said you were grown…” he gave her a sly look. She narrowed her eyes at her father.

“Yeah. I do.” her words made him smile warmly.

“That’s good. He’s gonna make a good father…”

“W-W-Wait… **what**?!?!?!”

“Don’t think I ain’t noticed that you gaining a little weight there…”

“Oh… my… **GOD** ; daddy!!!!”

“So… you’re not…”

“ **NO**!!!”

“Well, he better start making you hit the gym; don’t want a pudgy, lazy superhero in this house…” he smirked. She could only sigh and hold her head in her hand.

“Are you done…?”

“So, how do you two… well… do you…” he tried. Tabitha widened her eyes and immediately turned to leave.

“MOOOOOOOM!!!”

* * *

He had never spent the holidays with anyone, seeing that he was one of the only ones without family. He was thankful for the friends that he had made within the Justice League however he knew that the majority of them had their own families to spend time with; he didn’t want to feel as though he was intruding. This was the first time that J’onn was able to witness a family celebrate the Christmas holiday and learned a lot about the Lyght family traditions. He learned a lot about the family as a whole; how hard work was instilled in the children at an early age, along with numerous other values. J’onn was glad that he was “forced” to spend time with Tabitha’s family.

The Lyght family believed in the true meaning of Christmas, however it didn’t stop them from celebrating the commercial meaning as well. The family members sat in the living room and exchanged Christmas presents with one another. Olivia glanced at J’onn, who seemed to have taken a slight joy into watching the others open their presents.

“I’m so sorry, J’onn; we didn’t find out that you were coming until the last moment…”

“That is fine. The fact that you have welcomed me into your home is more than enough.” he smiled at her.

“Well… what do you give a Martian for a present, anyway…?” Tim shrugged.

“I got something for him!” Tabitha smiled as she quickly went upstairs.

“If you come back down here half-naked, I’m gonna throw up!” Tyler yelled at her.

“SHUT UP!!”

“Do they… always act like that among each other…?” J’onn asked Olivia. She slightly sighed and nodded.

“My boys will be boys… and my Tabby will always be conservative…” she shook her head. Tabitha returned carrying a reddish abstract sculpture.

“Pretty nice artwork! Where’d you get it from?” Thomas asked. She smiled as she handed the piece to J’onn.

“I made it! One of my Metahuman talents…” she boasted. It took the Martian a moment to examine it and then quickly look at her with slightly widened eyes.

“This… this is Martian rock…”

“Uh huh!”

“You… sculpted me something made from my home planet…”

“I wanted to make you something that you associate with. I tried Oreos but yeah… no; I didn’t want you to eat it! Besides; you ever try to make something out of Oreos besides food? I don’t recommend it…” she continued to smile.

“Tabitha… where did you get Martian rock from…?”

“… From Mars…”

“Rimshot!” Terry exclaimed and everyone laughed.

“Seriously, Cl… Superman got it for me; kinda sent him on a scavenger hunt for rare rocks! When he came back with a chunk of it, I knew I had to make you something…” she continued to smile. He was absolutely speechless as he studied the sculpture. He knew that he had wanted her to start back sculpting; J’onn had never thought that she would ever make **him** anything, especially something this personal. The idea touched him deeply as he traced the contours of the sculpture, “… You don’t like it…”

“… This is the kindest thing anyone has done for me… in quite some time. I love it…” he actually blushed as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Martian…”

* * *

After they returned to Watchtower, everything went back to normal. Tabitha was surprised yet happy that she was going on more missions. However, she had become so used to staying aboard, she almost rejected the opportunities. She was just fine being in the Martian’s presence, completing upgrades. Now that he received the approval of her family, she patiently waited for the day when they would tell the other League members. Although they had talked about the situation, she couldn’t help thinking about what was really stopping them from coming out about their true relationship.

She was heading into the control room to make a small report when she overheard J’onn strictly talking to someone. She tilted her head to the side and sighed; Tony, she shook her head. For a multibillionaire genius, he could be very childish and annoying!

When she got into closer range, she noticed that he actually looked upset as he performed an emergency teleport. Her eyebrows lifted slightly as a man and a woman appeared on the pads; the woman in purple and black helping the faceless man walk. She had never seen the two before and shot a look at the Martian.

“… Who are they…?”

“… Huntress and Question.”

“I take it they’re not supposed to be here…”

“Question, yes. Huntress is no longer affiliated with us…” he slightly narrowed his eyes as he went over to help. Tabitha just looked at Huntress, who was more concerned about Question than how the Martian was looking at her.

“What… happened…?” she decided to break the ice; although Question had no face, it was obvious to Tabitha that he had been beaten up. When the masked woman scoffed, it was enough to make Tabitha widen her eyes. She tried to follow the men towards the infirmary but was quickly stopped as Tabitha appeared in front of her, “Maybe you didn’t hear me; what happened?” she glared at her. Huntress was slightly surprised at her quickness but still didn’t say a word, “Look, lady: you don’t belong here so I ain’t got a problem shocking you… you don’t start talking, you’re gonna regret it…” she threatened.

“I was unaware that the Justice League needed a bodyguard…” the woman smirked.

“Ooh… you’re testing me! I’ve never attacked a League member… but you ain’t one so… I’m gonna enjoy this…” Tabitha charged up. Huntress slightly backed away, getting ready to strike.

“Tabitha, Helena!” as quickly as the two women were about to battle, J’onn put himself in the middle of the two. He chose to glare at the non-member first, “Just because you don’t recognize her doesn’t make her a non-important member; when she asks a question, you need to answer her…” he warned. Tabitha narrowed her eyes and smirked, “And, you will not provoke anyone, regardless if they’re a member or not…” her smug look turned to one of surprise.

“Wait… she disrespected **me** and **I** get lectured?!”

“Being a bully won’t get you any answers…”

“You better be glad J’onn’s right here; I’d shock you back down to Earth! You don’t want none for real…”

“Enough!!” the Martian’s voice echoed through the room, “Go and check on Question, Tabitha; I will handle this…” he sighed. She continued to narrow her eyes at the woman before she turned to leave.

“ _I swear, she says one more word and I’ll…_ ”

“ _Tabitha…_ ”

“ _Fine, fine; it’s dropped!_ ” she mumbled in her head. She made her way to the infirmary, where the guards saluted her in. There wasn’t much to study on Question however Tabitha looked at him regardless as he laid in the bed. He slowly looked at her.

“Watchtower’s… electrician…”

“Geez; I have a name!” she rolled her eyes.

“I know. Sorry that we’ve met… under these circumstances…”

“What happened?” she sat down in the chair beside the bed. He slightly huffed.

“Batman found out about the neurotoxins in your oils. He wanted me to find a connection between Luthor and Cadmus…”

“Cadmus?”

“I’ve had my theories about them for a while. A top secret agency out to keep the real super humans and Metahumans in check.” he told her. Tabitha sat back in her seat, thinking about what he had just said. If Luthor was connected to Cadmus… what did he truly want with her…?

“Well… is he…?”

“He is. I found out a lot of things; simulation programs predicting a war…”

“A… civil war…?”

“If you want to put it that way; a couple of members have already deflected to the government…” he explained. She slightly gasped and looked away.

“Amanda Waller…” she mumbled. Her impromptu trip into the future came back to light; she know knew the real source of the start of the civil war.

“You’re good…” if she could see his face, she knew that he was smirking at her, “I found out about the Justice Lords, too; how the Justice Lord Superman killed their universe’s Luthor.”

“Wow… they really were ruthless…” she shuddered.

“It… was going to happen in this universe…” Question stated quietly, “Similar events have already started to unfold…”

“He… the Superman that I know wouldn’t do that…”

“Well… I wanted to make sure that he didn’t. So… I tried to kill Luthor…”

“W-What?! Justice League members don’t kill!”

“Who would’ve known I was Justice League… besides the Justice League…?” he asked. She shook her head slightly, “He was… stronger than I would’ve imagined. Almost… Metahuman strong…”

“Luthor’s a Metahuman?”

“It’s something to look up. Cadmus wanted to know how I knew so much; they had a feeling that I had stolen some files.”

“You got tortured…” Tabitha realized, “I’m sorry…”

“All in a day’s work; I got the information that I wanted, that Batman wanted…”

“How did Huntress find you?”

“She… was with me… almost the entire time. I told her to go back and help Superman back at the facility… but she wanted to make sure I was taken care of here.” he finished explaining. Tabitha nodded and got out of her seat; the two were lovers, she made another realization.

“Why isn’t she with us anymore?”

“You’re right about one thing: Justice League members don’t kill. She was intent on doing so…” he explained. Tabitha slightly nodded.

“I’ll… send her here, then. I have to report all this to J’onn… anything else you wanna tell me?”

“… Cadmus cloned Supergirl…” he mentioned. As Tabitha made her way back to the control room, she was shocked about everything that she had learned. She had known that Luthor wanted her to leave the Justice League and be by his side; she would have never thought that he was connected to a government faction that looked forward to the superheroes going rogue, pitting them against those who were on “their” side. From what Question had told her, it sounded as though Cadmus was already preparing for everything, already convincing members to join their forces and even going so far as to clone Kara, Superman’s adopted cousin.

Another thing that bothered her was what Question briefly mentioned about Luthor. How was it possible for someone to purposely become the one thing that they had despised? It was one thing to try to fool the public, getting a few superheroes on your side; it was another to make yourself into one.

As Tabitha reached the control room, she slightly glared at Helena but then softened her look. The woman was only protecting her love interest; Tabitha knew that she would have done the same for the Martian. She sighed as Helena looked at her.

“He wants to see you…” she announced. Helena nodded but then looked at J’onn, who could only nod his approval. As she left, he looked at Tabitha.

“What did you find out?” he asked and she told him everything that Question had told her. Just when she was about to tell him about the clone, Clark materialized on the teleportation pads, carrying a man who donned a bluish-silver suit with red gloves and boots. A white with a red outline starburst was placed in the middle of his chest.

“What is this; new members’ day…?”

“That is Captain Atom… and seeing that he is made entirely of nuclear energy… there isn’t too much that can hurt him…” he immediately approached the two, “What happened?”

“He was ordered to stop me…” was all that Clark said as he made his way to the infirmary, leaving the two to watch him. Tabitha quickly drew her attention to J’onn.

“I don’t like this. What we gonna do about this whole Cadmus thing?”

“There’s nothing we can do…”

“… What…? They’re attacking League members! They already **kidnapped** one; they’re pitting us against each other and they’ve cloned Kara!” his eyes widened at that bit of information, “But, we’re gonna sit here and do nothing?!”

“What do you propose, Tabitha? Go down to Earth and initiate the war with the government?”

“You were quick to threaten Luthor and Tala…” she narrowed her eyes at the Martian. He sighed heavily.

“With Tala, I had a lapse of judgment… and you know full well why I won’t recant what I said to Luthor… as well as stay true to my word. This is different. Cadmus wants us to retaliate; they want the rest of the world to hate us. We allow justice to prevail; we do not take matters into our own hands…” he tried to explain.

“Seems like a lot of folks are tryna take matters into their hands, though…”

“Which isn’t right. We investigate, we make our findings known to the public; that is it. Unless the threat is something that only we can handle, the rest is up to the right authorities.” he looked at her. She sighed out her frustrations however she knew that he was right. He grabbed her tenderly by the shoulders, “I assure you that this will be monitored carefully.” the Martian tried to reassure. Tabitha was about to nod her head until she noticed Clark and Kara storming up towards the two. Tabitha had to admit that she admired that the woman made her outfit in homage to Clark’s; a white cropped short sleeved shirt donning the same S emblem and a plain blue skirt. Her red cape stopped at the middle of her back. Her blues eyes almost radiated with anger.

“J’onn, we’re enlisting Tabitha to go down to Earth…” Clark demanded.

“I will have to shoot that idea down.” the Martian matched the Kryptonian’s tone, “In fact, it is not a good idea to go after Cadmus.”

“… What? I **know** Tabitha told you what they’ve done…”

“Yes. But, that doesn’t give any of us the right to take things into our own hands. We uphold the law. Cadmus may very well be a legitimate organization.”

“What type of legitimate place harasses Justice League members?!” Clark glared. Fear danced in Tabitha’s eyes as the two glared at each other. She questioned if what she was told by the future Ramil still held true; that Clark and J’onn would get into a heated argument, causing J’onn and herself, along with a few others to leave the Justice League. She had to slightly agree with Question; things were starting to unfold and be put in place for the civil war. Of course, she didn’t want that to happen; not only did she enjoy being a Justice League member and adored every member, she feared for the Lindseys’ lives, “Tabitha, you’ve dealt with Luthor; what do you think?” he looked at her. She bit her lip and slightly looked away.

“I think that… that if we put the law in our own hands… folks down on Earth are gonna get more nervous about us…”

“She has a valid point…” Green Arrow chimed in; by then, several more members gathered around the four, “I’m one of the rare ones without any superpowers and you know what? You guys scare me…”[2]

“See? And he’s **in** the League with us! Look; I don’t like this one bit. But marching down there like a bunch of powered up bullies ain’t gonna look right…”

“So, what do we do? Just sit here and take it?” Kara asked. Tabitha glanced at J’onn and then back at everyone else.

“We don’t do nothing. They want to start a war with us. I don’t want that. That’s what’s gonna happen if one of us go back down there and start raiding places! And, why?”

“Because… Luthor and that Cadmus group have messed with you, me, Kara… everyone here! You’re seriously going to let him get away with what he did to you…?” she was glad that Clark didn’t glare at her. Tabitha closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

“I can’t do nothing about that; I can’t retaliate. You know what would happen if I did? All hell would break loose! That ain’t the Justice League way and of all people, **you** should know that! We save the day; we **aid** justice, not take shit into our own hands!”

“So, why did you confront Luthor in the first place?”

“Really? All I wanted was answers; that was it! I didn’t go there to cause any shit and I damn sure didn’t go there to kill him; I walked the fuck away!!” she fumed and took a step towards Clark, “You wanna sit here and bitch and moan about what all he’s done to you, you wanna tear down everything that he owns? You’re pissed because he and Cadmus are trying to make you, to make the whole damn League look like the bad guys? Well, guess what; he **turned** me into one! He got into my **dreams** , Clark! You wanna know the most fucked up thing about that? I don’t remember it. I can’t remember none of what I put Wally and Bruce and J’onn through! So, do I want him to pay for what he did to me? Fuck… yeah! That’s what you wanna hear from me, right?! Fine… yes; I wanna charge up with all of my might and hit him… over and over… and over again! Every time I think about it, it makes me wish I had the power to bring people back to life so that I could kill him over and over and over and over again; **that’s** how I fucking feel!!” she surprised everyone in the room. A hot tear rolled down to her cheek and she angrily wiped at it, “Do you know what’s stopping me from doing that? I don’t wanna be a villain. Do you…?” she asked seriously. Tabitha hadn’t meant for all of her emotions to come out. However, she figured that it was better that Clark would argue with her instead of J’onn.

Clark opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the computer announcing the preparation of the laser cannon firing.

“What the…” Green Arrow mused. Both Tabitha and J’onn went over to the console to see what was going on. Sure enough, the screens were showing a countdown meter.

“It… it went off by itself!” Tabitha panicked. Before the Martian could do anything, Tabitha immediately went to work in trying to override the system. When she became locked out, J’onn took her to the side and tried the same.

“It’s… not accepting the code… we’re being hacked…” his words made Tabitha’s eyes widened. Before she could think, she contacted Tony on her communicator.

“Dawling!”

“Tell me you didn’t hack into our system, again…”

“… No. What’s…”

“Would you know how to override something?”

“… I would have to be there in person…”

“ **Fuck**! Call you back…” she immediately disconnected, “Wasn’t Tee…”

“I know…” J’onn continued to try the override code. Frustrated, he tore into the panel, ripping the wires and circuit board hoping to shut everything down; the laser cannon continued to charge up. Tabitha reached her hand into the mess of wires and released as much of her lightning as she could however nothing worked. Just as Clark went outside to at least redirect the aim of the cannon, it was too late; the laser fired and drained Watchtower of its electricity. Tabitha stared at the dismantled console in horror.

“S-S-So… what was targeted…?” she quietly asked; it was brief however as she was trying to override the system, she noticed that there were coordinates being displayed.

“… I’m pretty sure it was Cadmus headquarters…” J’onn confirmed.

“Oh, fuck… our lives…” she breathed out.

“The force of that impact…” the Martian shook his head but then turned to the others, “We’ll need a rescue team down there…”

“I’m on it!” Wally volunteered and started to gather more volunteers. Bruce slightly shook his head.

“Question is out of commission for a while; I’m going to find out who’s trying to frame us… although I have a clue…” he made his way towards the teleportation pads. Tabitha nodded and started to leave with the group.

“I’m with Wally…”

“No. You stay here. Keep an eye on the control room…” J’onn immediately ordered.

“Wha… but… ain’t much to look after in here… I’d be more useful down there…”

“There is no need for you down on Earth. Wally has his team. You will stay here and make sure no one else decides to leave…” he slightly glanced at Clark and Kara.

“Wait… how the hell am I supposed to do all **that**?! I’m telling you, Wal…”

“Tabitha, that is an order!” she was absolutely shocked that he would raise his voice at her as well as glare at her, “Stay… here.” he finished. She returned the glare and gave out an agitated huff.

“… Yes, sir…” she bit her tongue to keep from saying more. The Martian left the area, ordering a few others to make sure that everyone else was fine. She stopped glaring at him and put her attention on Clark and Kara, “I don’t wanna fight either of you… but let it be known I won’t back down if I have to…”

“I would never expect you to.” Clark nodded. When she saw that the two were not going to move anywhere, she turned away and sighed.

“I’m sorry… for what I said earlier…”

“Why? You meant it. And… you’re right. We shouldn’t act like bullies just because we have super powers.”

“… I know that he’s a criminal mastermind or whatever but… a couple of things that Luthor told me… I kinda felt that he had a right to feel…” Tabitha shrugged, “I think that… every civilian thought about it once or twice: what happens if they go rogue? Call him what you want but… even if he’s just pretending to be concerned, he’s a voice of the people; whoever plays that role is brilliant.”

“It’s what he does best; manipulate people…” Clark shrugged. Tabitha nodded and then put her attention on Kara. The Cadmus organization was equipped adequately enough to produce clones of powerful superheroes. She didn’t think of herself as being that powerful; Tabitha knew that she was strong enough to become a potential threat. It made her wonder what Cadmus would have done to her if Luthor had successfully convinced her to join him.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a phone ringing. Looking towards the dismantled console, Tabitha’s eyes widened as she realized what was ringing; the emergency line that the President had access to.

“Oh, dear God… please let that be Tee…” she mumbled as she slowly picked up the receiver, “M-Mr. President…”

“Wait; who is this? Where is J’onn J’onzz?!” he bellowed out, making Tabitha swear in her mind.

“T-This is Tabitha, sir. J’onn is check…”

“There better be a damn good reason why you decided to fire a nuclear laser without me knowing about it…”

“Sir, we had nothing to do with that, please believe me! Our system was hacked…”

“Hacked?! Who on God’s green earth has the ability to hack **your** station?! Shouldn’t you have some sort of alien firewall for something like that?!” he continued. Tabitha bit her lip; after Tony’s playful hack, she had every intention on upgrading the system, “What’s being done about this?”

“We’ve already sent a recovery team down, sir. After the power returns, we can do a full investigation…”

“So, what am I supposed to tell the people of Earth, Tabitha?”

“… That we had nothing to do with this, sir…”

“Until I get actual proof of that, my hands are tied! I need a few of you down here, in D.C. **now**!” he ordered and ended the call. Tabitha bit her lip as she hung up and looked at the group.

“The President…” J’onn asked and she slowly nodded.

“Uh… to say that he ain’t happy is putting it lightly… he pretty much just asked for heads on platters…”

“Understandable. I guess… we give him what he wants…” Clark nodded.

“To see us surrender willingly should be a good gesture to the public.” Diana chimed in. Tabitha shook her head and looked at J’onn.

“It’s gonna make us look guilty!”

“So would not doing anything at all. Seeing us under arrest will calm them down, at least until the real culprit is caught.” John agreed with Diana. Tabitha crossed her arms and sighed heavily.

“So, that’s the decision?”

“Yes. We cooperate with what the President wants. Kara… hold down the fort[3].” Clark announced. Kara nodded and headed out of the control room as the founding members turned to leave, teleporting themselves down to Earth. Before Tabitha could get to the teleportation pads, J’onn gently grabbed her arm.

“Where are you going?”

“You heard ‘em; we’re turning ourselves…”

“Not you; you’re staying here.”

“… Is that another order…sir?” her jaw slightly twitched as she spoke.

“Tabitha…” J’onn sighed.

“No; you listen here: I know the controls of Watchtower like the back of my hand, now! It could’ve very well had been me who pulled the trigger; wouldn’t it make sense if I was there as well?!”

“I know. But, that’s the very reason why I need for you to stay here. I’m assigning you as temp Monitor.” he surprised her. She stared almost blankly at him.

“… What…?”

“You’ve been trained well enough to handle it on your own. Assist Kara in any way that you can; she’s first in command… and you’re second. I have to go.”

“W-Wait! What do I do…?” she asked. He slightly smiled and caressed her cheek. She was surprised yet again as he pulled her in closer, planting a tender kiss on her lips.

“Use your instincts.” he told her before teleporting himself. She nodded and turned to look for Kara as well as other Justice League members. She found the girl by the infirmary.

“Still keeping an eye on me?” she lifted an eyebrow. Tabitha gave her a surprised look but shook her head.

“You’re in charge, now. I gotta figure out what to do about Watchtower…”

“Oh… that means we’re working together, then. What do you need, Tabitha?” she asked. Tabitha had to think for a moment. What needed to be done? Everything, she almost rolled her eyes.

“Well… everyone needs to be told who’s in charge of what. I… I need to get communications back up to tell Wally and Bruce of the others’ plans… as well as find out what’s happening with the rescue mission.” she went back to the control room. She immediately went to work on the destroyed panel, “After we get the power restored, I can see if I can disable the laser for right now…” she continued. Kara slightly smiled and nodded.

“I’ll go get you some help…”

“Thanks.” she found it slightly weird to take control without J’onn or the others being there. As she attempted to get communications back up, she realized that she had taken for granted all that the Martian actually did. Then again, this was a special circumstance, she realized.

It took Tabitha and her team of help only ten minutes to restore communications. She immediately dispatched herself to Wally.

“Tabby…?”

“Yeah. How are things going with the rescue mission?”

“Fortunately, no deaths. A couple of serious injuries. Wait… why are you doing J’onn’s job…?”

“He… they turned themselves in. To show or try to prove that they’re innocent…”

“All of the founding members did…?”

“Yeah. Except for Bruce but I’m gonna contact him next.”

“Alright. It’s reasonable; everyone’s lost their trust in us. We got to win it back…”

“Agreed. Give someone else the lead and go.”

“You know what; I like you as Monitor!” he ended transmission, making the lightning woman blush. She contacted Bruce and told him about everything; the two were being patched through his communication system in the Batwing.

“So, you’re telling me to turn myself in…? You’re about as bad as that Martian…”

“Bruce…”

“I can’t do that, Tabitha. I have to get to the bottom of this; no one else will do it if we’re all locked up…”

“… Fine…”

“Hmm… I like this; no argument…” he smiled. She rolled her eyes.

“You have seniority over me… plus, you’re right. Go get the bastard… but you make sure you report back in and let me know something!”

“Yes, ma’am…” he smirked. She narrowed her eyes at him as he ended transmission. Part of her job was done: communications were back up, everyone else on Watchtower were being told who was in charge and she had spoken to two Justice League members. Tabitha told herself that she would start working on restoring the power; she had high hopes that since communications were quickly restored, the rest of the power would be back soon.

Forty minutes later, Tabitha and the others had the power restored. She sighed in relief and debated on what to work on next. She had told Kara that she would disarm the laser however another agenda came into mind; she wanted to check on the founding members. She started to mentally prepare her speech for the President until the Watchtower systems started to go off.

“Shit; what now?!” she glared at the screens. She was taken by disbelief of the warning system showing missiles heading towards the space station, “Fuck… me… KAAAAAARRRRAAA!!” she was glad that the girl was a replica of Clark; she appeared in seconds besides Tabitha, “We got missiles heading our way; twelve of ‘em!”

“W-What?!”

“I don’t know what they’re gonna do… but we gotta tell everyone to brace for impact…” she was glad that the communication system was up; she didn’t know how long it would’ve took Kara to notify everyone aboard. She quickly made the announcement as well as telling the civilian workers to immediately take shelter. Seconds later, the collision of twelve missile heads were felt as they bored into the hull of the station.

“Sounds like it hit close to the reactor room. I’ll go check on it.” Kara volunteered.

“I’ll check on the others.” Tabitha told her as the two made their way to investigate. Going around the corner, the two were met by what Tabitha could only describe as an all out battle; several League members were fighting other superheroes who looked as though they had been cloned in groups of five.

“Ultimen!” Kara exclaimed. Tabitha looked at her.

“Ulti… what?”

“I’ll explain later; looks like that’s what those missiles were really carrying…”

“Alright; leave ‘em to the rest of us: go check on the reactor! Wait… what we dealing with?”

“Water, air, electricity and self manipulation, and animal shifting…” Kara flew away.

“… Electricity, huh…?” Tabitha smiled at the Ultimen clones, “Piece of cake!” she did a Lightning Cloud towards a group and made quick work of them. She soon found out that the clones were attacking mindlessly at the League members; although the civilian workers were told to take shelter, they too were fighting the clones, warding them off. Tabitha made her way to the infirmary, only to see Captain Atom, Huntress and Question fighting off three of the clones. Charging up with all of her might, Tabitha released her lightning towards the clones, knocking all three unconscious.

“What are you doing; you two are still injured…” she slightly glared at the two men.

“I’ll be fine. Where’s… Kara?” Captain Atom asked.

“Reactor room.”

“I’ll go and help…”

“Not alone; I’m coming with you. Huntress…” she stopped the woman dead in her tracks, “Take care of the infirmary area; Question is in no condition to be fighting…” Tabitha ordered. With a slight smile, Huntress nodded as Tabitha and Captain Atom made their way to the reactor room.

“It may not be safe for you down there…”

“You’ll protect me, right…?” she winked, “Look, I’m second in command; no way in hell I’m gonna let Kara do this alone!”

“… The lieutenant protecting the captain…” Atom slightly smiled at her. Tabitha nodded her head and smirked.

“Damn right!”

As the two reached the reactor room, Captain Atom immediately shoved Tabitha out of the way in time as the steel door flew into the adjacent wall. As she gathered her senses, she could hear Kara arguing with someone else. Tabitha got a glance at who Kara was talking to and slightly gasped. When Question told her that Cadmus had cloned Kara, she had no idea what to expect. The other woman was indeed a near clone; instead of blue eyes, the clone had piercing green ones. Her white outfit was more mature than Kara’s, a long-sleeved one piece with a hole in the middle to show her cleavage. She clearly had the upper hand on Kara; Tabitha and Captain Atom immediately put themselves in the fight. Tabitha soon realized that looks weren’t the only thing that was copied; the clone proved to have the same abilities as Kara as she punched Tabitha in the square of her jaw, sending her flying across the room. Captain Atom met the same fate, landing near Tabitha.

“Exactly like Superman…”

“So, it seems…” Tabitha groaned, rubbing her jaw. The clone ignored them and continued to go after Kara. They were all caught by surprise when she started to laugh.

“You know… no matter how bad you beat me… nothing changes the fact that I’m real… and you’re a clone.[4]” she taunted.

“S-Shut up…[5]” the clone stuttered. Kara smiled as the clone hit her yet again.

“And, deep down… you know this. You’re not a real person; you’re just a weapon! Grown out of one of Hamilton’s petri dishes![6]”

“SHUT… UP!!![7]” it raged. However, Kara dodged her attack and ripped out one of the large power couplings in the room. Before the clone could attack yet again, Kara rammed the power plug into her stomach, electrocuting the clone. Tabitha and Captain Atom stood beside Kara, watching as her clone’s body twitched uncontrollably.

“See… told J’onn that taunting helps!” Tabitha smirked, “Did she have a name?”

“… Galatea. You can… fix that… right…?” Kara nodded towards the damaged coupling. Tabitha narrowed her eyes at it and sighed.

“Yeah, sure; no problem: it’s only a power source to somewhere…” she mumbled, making Kara laugh and put her arm around her shoulder.

“Hey; I couldn’t make second in command an easy task for you!”

* * *

[1]Paraphrased from “Scarface”; real saying is: You wanna go to war, we take you to war, okay?

[2]Paraphrased from Justice League Unlimited episode “Flashpoint”

[3]Taken from Justice League Unlimited episode “Panic In The Sky”

[4]Paraphrased from Justice League Unlimited episode, “Panic In The Sky”

[5]-[7] Taken from Justice League Unlimited episode “Panic In The Sky”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *If you're not familiar with the Justice League Unlimited series; Galatea is better known as Power Girl*
> 
> *The "Tango Down" comment is a nod to the Call of Duty series as well as actual military lingo; the "tango" stands for terrorist.*


	23. Task Force, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Next two chapters were actually one; yet again, I'm being considerate and decided to split it up!*

As Kara and Tabitha assessed the damage to the space station, they discussed a few things. The Ultimen were a group of five superheroes who were genetically conceived by Cadmus who were to be absolutely loyal to the government. However, their genetic codes were flawed and the five succumbed to massive cellular degradation. No one knew that they were a Cadmus project until the attack aboard Watchtower. Another thing that bothered Tabitha was Kara learned that Galatea’s mission was to outright destroy Watchtower, in retaliation of the laser firing. She knew that the President would not had ordered such an attack and wanted to speak to him, as well as check on the founding members.

“You’re the one I spoke with over the phone?”

“Yes, sir…” old habits died hard; she actually saluted. The President smirked, saluting her back.

“Prior service…”

“That’s right. Sir, I have some information that, well… I would also like the founding members to hear as well…”

“I knew that sooner or later someone would want to speak with them…” he nodded slowly and motioned for the others to appear; the only member missing was Bruce.

“Tabitha. Where’s Kara?” Clark immediately asked.

“She’s fine… I ordered her to rest. We were attacked. Twelve missiles bored into the hull, releasing a bunch of Ultimen clones… and Galatea, Supergirl’s clone.”

“Is everyone alright?”

“For the most part.” she told Clark; Tabitha couldn’t help but to notice that the President’s face looked almost drained of color.

“Who… ordered the attack?” the President finally found his voice.

“We’re going by what the clone said, sir. She said that she was sent to destroy the Watchtower base in retaliation of the laser going off. We can only assume that it was a Cadmus order…”

“I see. The director called me, wanting me to issue the attack. I told her to stand down…” he gritted through his teeth. Tabitha stopped holding her breath; so the President **didn’t** order the attack, “Is Batman with you?”

“No, sir. He’s investigating the hack on our system.”

“Any suspects?” he asked. She knew that Bruce didn’t outright say who was responsible… however, with all the information before them, they both knew who really was.

“… Lex Luthor. We also have information that he’s a huge benefactor for Cadmus. If it makes you feel better, I’ve deactivated the cannon. The only way someone can activate it… is from this very panel, now…” Tabitha announced. She received surprised looks from everyone and slightly blushed.

“I want to apologize for my harshness earlier…”

“Very understandable, sir.”

“The founding members are released. I’m assuming that they’re needed to help track down Luthor and end this mess. Tabitha, is it?”

“Yes, sir?”

“… A job well done.” he smiled and let the founding members take over the screen.

“Tabitha, how many members are available to help out?” J’onn asked.

“Not too many. We’re assessing all the damage now and tending to the wounded. There’s no official count yet…”

“Continue to tend to them and the repairs, then.”

“I’ll get in contact with Batman and let him know that you’re coming to help. Should I send members as needed?”

“… It’s your call. We’ll keep you posted.”

“Thank you… sir…” she gave the Martian a smile and a half salute before ending the transmission. When she turned around, she was looking into the blue eyes of Kara’s, “Holy hell; don’t sneak up on me like that! You should be resting…”

“I’ll be fine. So… what’s the verdict?”

“They’re being released so they can help Bruce track down Luthor.” she said. Before even thinking about, Tabitha contacted Bruce to let him know of the situation. Afterwards, she made an announcement for all members to report to the control room. She was glad to see that not too many were missing or even hurt, “We’re gonna need three teams: one to help tend to the wounded, one to help with repairs and one to relieve the team that’s still on rescue. Those helping the wounded, stay with Kara; those helping with repairs, report to me. The others, standby. If you’re wounded, I don’t care how small; get checked out before you do anything.” she nodded at the group. The one thing that warmed her heart was that the group complied. Kara looked at her and smiled.

“You know… I modeled my outfit in honor of my mentor; maybe it’s high time you did the same…”

* * *

An hour passed as the groups worked together. She tried to make herself busy, switching between completing repairs and checking with the wounded. However, Tabitha couldn’t help but to notice that she had heard no word from J’onn or any of the founding members. She was tempted to contact them herself but figured that they were just as busy as Watchtower was.

“Ma’am!” one of the civilian guards quickly approached her, “There’s something on the news you may want to see!” he informed her. She nodded and followed the guard back to the control room where Kara had the news station broadcasting on one of the monitors. There was live coverage of what was happening near the LexCorp building in Metropolis; the seven founding members were battling someone who looked like Lex Luthor.

“What’s that he’s wearing…?” Tabitha squinted at the screen; he looked as though he was wearing a full gold armored body suit. His head was blue with three circular orbs glowing in the form of a V almost around his head. Kara noticed the symbol and gasped.

“Brainiac!”

“… Who…?”

“He’s an alien android. He fuses with anything that he can just so that he can absorb all of its knowledge and then destroys it.”

“So… he’s fused with Luthor… and he’s gonna destroy him…?”

“It’s not that simple. Brainiac has the power to absorb a whole planet’s knowledge…” she looked at Tabitha. The lightning woman widened her eyes.

“Well… **that** ain’t good!”

“Exactly!”

“We gotta go help…”

“We can’t; they’re counting on us to hold down the home front…”

“Which we’ve already done. Kara, we can’t let ‘em fight that thing alone! Look; they’re getting their asses whipped!” she pointed towards the screen, “You’re Clark’s cousin; you have the same powers as he does! I got lightning to back me up! Let’s… go…” she pleaded. After three years, the founding seven had become her dear friends; it was killing her to watch them slowly fall one by one… especially her boyfriend.

“… Are you doing this to save our mentors… or are you doing this so that you can get a few licks in on Luthor…?” Kara asked sincerely. Tabitha smirked.

“Okay… I ain’t gonna lie and say that the thought didn’t cross my mind…”

“Tabitha…”

“I ain’t gonna kill him! I **do** owe him an ass whooping, though! It’s being filmed; why would I risk killing him on national TV? Wait a sec… J’onn said that it’s my call to teleport members. So, I’m making the call; we’re going!

“You are certainly a risk taker…”

“One of the best!”

The two teleported just in time as the Luthor/Brainiac fusion created android replicas of the Justice Lord to stave off the attack from the others. The hybrid glanced Kara and Tabitha’s way and created an android Galatea to face off against Kara. Each Justice Lord was pitted against their normal counterpart, trying to goad and taunt them about their weaknesses and fears. Tabitha froze as she watched the Justice Lord J’onn approach his replica. The Martian smirked.

“My weaknesses are your weaknesses; there is nothing you can do to make me doubt myself…” he said. Justice Lord J’onn smirked back at him and with rapid speed, appeared right in front of Tabitha. Just like in her nightmare, the Justice Lord grabbed her by her throat and lifted her up in the air.

“Looks like I found your weakness… she’s definitely not mine!”

“Tabitha!” J’onn panicked. The Justice Lord just evilly smiled at Tabitha.

“Do you remember what I said to you? That you would pay with your life for your defiance?” he continued to smile cruelly at her. Her mind was reeling; the scene was playing out almost exactly as it had in her dream. There wasn’t anything that she could do; he was indeed stronger and she didn’t have her powers to defend herself…

That thought made her stop struggling and return the sadistic smile.

“Yeah… I remember. But… that was a dream and this…” she started to charge up, “This is reality! Oh, and if I’m not mistaken… you’re just a robot…” she released all of her energy, electrocuting the android. J’onn approached her and embraced her tightly.

“… What are you doing here…?”

“Helping out. And, don’t tell me to go back; you said to send members and that’s what I did!”

“He could’ve killed you…”

“Nah… that’s what you’re here for, right…?” she winked at him. He gave her a smirk before looking around for the others. They had easily defeated their doppelgangers as well and were approaching the machine the hybrid had created to absorb, destroy and recreate the universe, “That’s our real target?”

“You can say that…”

“Done deal…” she did a Lightning Cloud towards it and began to destroy it alongside the other members.

“Tabby! How fast can you go…?” Wally switched glances from the hybrid to his friend. She shrugged.

“Never clocked myself…”

“Remember when you trained with J’onn?” he winked. She slightly perked up and looked over at the hybrid.

“My pleasure!” she said and both took off quickly. She didn’t have time to worry about why Wally went the opposite direction, away from the Luthor/Brainiac hybrid; she did the same moves as she did when she trained with J’onn, hitting the hybrid as hard and fast as she could using Lightning Cloud. A few seconds later, she saw a red streak coming towards the two from the opposite direction and moved out of the way. She blinked as he hit the hybrid hard enough to tear off a chunk of its armor and realized what just happened; Wally had encircled the globe. She smiled when she figured out the plan; she would weaken and distract the hybrid while Wally made his trek around the globe.

The two played out this plan several times, with Wally appearing in a shorter time than the last. Tabitha finally succumbed to exhaustion as she dropped to her knees and watched as Wally’s final trek only took him a mere second. She knew that something was wrong; energy from his speed flowed all over his body, making noticeable crackling sounds and his hands were vibrating. He placed his hands on what remained of the armor and destroyed it completely, leaving Luthor in a small crater.

“W-Wally…” Tabitha mustered as much strength as she could to make it over to her friend, who wobbled as he stood. Before she could make it over to him, he suddenly disappeared from sight, “F-FLASH!!!!” her eyes widened. Adrenaline kicking in, she quickly looked around for any signs of him. Her search was interrupted by the slight and exhausted laughter coming from the crater.

“Well, what do you know; I **did** end up killing him![1]” Luthor mused. Anger filled her veins as she glared down at him.

“You… you… you son-of-a-bitch…” she didn’t care that her vision started to blur; she had fully welcomed the loss of control. Before she could reach him, Clark immediately grabbed him, enraged himself. Breathing erratically, his eyes began to glow red, a sign that he was about to use his heat vision. Tabitha’s breathing matched his as sparks and waves of electricity flowed over her clenched fists. J’onn and Diana prepared to intervene however Bruce stopped both of them.

“No… let them decide on their own…[2]” he told both of them.

“She’s blacking out!”

“She knows how to control it; give her a chance!” Bruce growled back at J’onn, “She knows what she needs to do…” he actually had to reassure himself. He was there when she confessed how she really felt about the ordeal Luthor had put her through; he had hoped that she would not let those feelings consume her.

Clark finally closed his eyes, still angry and threw Luthor to the ground, shaking his head.

“I’m nothing like the Justice Lord version… I will not stoop to his… or **your** level!” he declared and walked away. Tabitha, on the other hand still slightly glowed from the lightning that flowed over her body. She slowly but angrily walked over to Luthor.

“Tabitha… no…” Shayera whispered.

“You… invaded my dreams. You held me hostage in my own fucking body... you… killed… my friend; why should I let you live?!?!” she raged, the life leaving her brown eyes. Luthor stared up at her in horror as more electricity started to quiver around her body. Before she let the rage blind her, she thought about everything Luthor had put her through as well as other members of the Justice League. Just when she was about to unleash all of the power that was building up inside of her, one more thought came to her mind: Justice League members did not kill. She then remembered that everything that was going on… was being broadcasted live. She couldn’t let herself kill him, no matter what he had done, especially in front of a live audience… and her fellow Justice League comrades. She started to control her breathing and crouched down into a ball, immediately stopping her flow of lightning. Her tears followed as her vision returned fully, shaking her head. She glared at Luthor, who was still shaking in fear. The other members held their breaths as she approached and roughly grabbed him. She got closer to his ear, “On second thought… I’d rather see you suffer through J’onn’s hands!” she dropped him and wearily made her way towards her friends. J’onn had heard what she told him and kept his smile to himself; something else had caught his attention: he could still feel Wally. He looked in the direction where he sensed him the most.

“J’onn…?” John looked at him.

“He’s… still alive; I can sense him.” he walked in the direction where he sensed him, “Here…”

“W-What’s… there…?” Tabitha asked.

“He tapped into the Speed Force…” J’onn tried to explain. Without warning, Shayera took her mace and slashed it in the air where J’onn pointed. As she slashed the air, a portal opened. She didn’t wait for Shayera to make a move; Tabitha rushed towards it and threw her arm into the portal.

“Flash!!”

“Tabitha, no!” Shayera panicked as she saw that the force inside the portal was trying to pull her inside. She quickly grabbed her hand however she felt that she was being pulled as well. The members formed a chain to keep the two from being sucked into the Speed Force.

“… I got him!” Tabitha yelled; the group helped her pull him out of the portal. As he fell into her lap, she immediately hugged him as tight as she could, “Wally…”

“Tabby… don’t let me go that fast again. If I do… I don’t think I’m coming back…[3]”

“I won’t. That’s a promise. I can’t lose you…” she planted a small kiss on his forehead.

“Heh…”

“What…?”

“… I finally beat you…” he slightly smiled. She smirked and pinched him on his arm.

* * *

Every single Justice League member and the civilian crew from Watchtower gathered in Metropolis along with the media and other citizens for a press conference from the founding members. Tabitha took her spot beside Green Arrow and the two looked on as Clark stepped up.

“Formal apology?” he asked. Outside the Justice League, he was known as Oliver Queen. Tabitha was surprised to have learned that Bruce suggested him to join the League however once she saw how good of a marksman he was with his trick arrows, she knew that he had made a wise choice.

“Looks like it…” she quieted down to hear Clark. He cleared his throat and looked into the sea of people.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to say… I’m guilty. We’re guilty of the sin of hubris. We had the best intentions to be Earth’s guardians, to keep you safe but… we failed you. We look down at the world from our tower in the sky and let our power and responsibility separate us from the very people we were supposed to protect. No one should ever be afraid of us. For that reason… we’re decommissioning Watchtower. We’re taking down the station. There’s more. We want to thank the members of the Justice League for your courageous service but in the future… you’ll have to act as independent agents. We’re not going to be an army anymore. As of right now… we’re disbanding the Justice League. This is the end.[4]” he announced to a shocked crowd. As the seven members turned to leave, Tabitha and Oliver stepped forward.

“Hold up! Now… I had my little worry when you said that you were taking down the station; that’s been my home for three years, now! I’ve fixed and upgraded a lot of stuff up there and I take pride in that! But… I don’t agree with disbanding the entire League! Look… you ain’t never been in the military; you’ve never been a part of a unit. But… that’s what we are. Actually… we’re more than that. We’re no army; an army only looks at individuals. We’re a team, we’re a… family. Someone in an army can’t tell you what someone else’s favorite color is. But… Flash knows mine; you all do. We know each other’s birthdays, we know that one little thing to do to brighten each other’s day… we know that someone’s favorite flower is a daisy!” she slightly smiled as laughter came from the crowd; she controlled her laughter as J’onn slightly glared at her.

“You remember what we did yesterday? We saved the world… **again**. You don’t think that has any value? Well, think again, pal! The Justice League goes on, with or without you. Look; nobody can question your service or commitment to making things better. If you’re quitting because you think you’ve already done your fair share, fine; we’ll throw you a parade! But if you’re quitting because it’s easier than continuing the fight then, you’re not the heroes we all thought you were. The world needs the Justice League…[5]” Oliver continued for Tabitha. The crowd erupted in a cheer and for the first time, Tabitha saw Clark blush.

“You can apologize for us acting like we’re higher than others. But to flat out quit? That ain’t the way we do things; at least that’s what I’ve learned being a member! Not to say that we’ll be better off without the seven of ya, but we’ll go on as a team without ya if we **have** to!” she finished. She was glad that she heard the approval murmurs from not only the other Justice League members but the crowd of civilians as well, “If you quit, you’re letting all the villains win… including the one from yesterday. We’re the good guys, remember? Good prevails over evil… always!”

“Hmm… quis custodiet ipsos custodies?[6]” Bruce almost mumbled. Tabitha arched her eyebrows at him as Oliver smiled.

“‘Who guards the guardians’?” he asked him and immediately threw his arm over Tabitha’s shoulder, motioning towards the group of superheroes, “We’ve got it covered…[7]”

“Yep!” she gave the seven a wide smile.

“A compromise may be in order, then…” J’onn thought aloud.

“Okay. How ‘bout… Watchtower stays, serves as a lookout in the sky… and we can build something down here on Earth…” Tabitha suggested.

“That sounds like a great idea. To remain in touch with the people, the Justice League will set up an embassy on Earth.” Clark smiled, more at Tabitha.

For his crimes, Lex Luthor was placed in prison without the chance of parole, something Tabitha was definitely glad of. The Cadmus group was disbanded as well however the League members knew that there would always be slight doubt and fear if any of them went rogue. They had hoped that the establishment of an Earth embassy would deter that fear; it would improve the relations between civilians and super humans. After much thought, the group decided that Metropolis would be the ideal place to open up the embassy, dubbing it Metro Tower.

* * *

“For your upcoming quiz, review chapters five and six. And, remember; tomorrow, I need you guys to turn in your topics for your assignment so that I can approve them. That assignment is twenty percent of your total grade! Now… get out of here and watch the roads!” the professor dismissed her class. As the students headed out, another professor entered her classroom.

“Dr. Lindsey, someone dropped this off for you…” the woman handed her an envelope. She shrugged and looked at it.

“Oh… okay… thanks…” she wondered where it was dropped off at; she had a mailbox for such things. When she opened it and read it, her heart dropped.

_We have your children. If you want to see them again, follow these instructions. Do not inform the authorities or the Justice League. When you receive this, go to your home immediately._

“H-Hey, who dropped this… off…” Jamila looked up but saw that she was alone. Was this someone’s idea of a joke, she angrily thought as she packed up her things. It wouldn’t be very funny once she found out who was behind it, she thought as she made her way out of the building. If it wasn’t a prank, she remembered that the letter stated for her not to call the police or the Justice League… it said nothing about contacting her husband. She was about to call him until her cellphone rang; a private number. She usually ignored those but thought that it was too much of a coincidence, “Dr. Lindsey…” she cleared her throat.

“Did you get the note…?” the garbled voice asked. She stopped walking.

“Who’s this?” she demanded.

“You will do as instructed or you will never see your children, again!”

“This ain’t funny, whoever this is! I find out you’re playing with me…”

“Go home and check on your children, Dr. Lindsey; if you think this is a joke!” the voice threatened and immediately hung up. She ran to her car and rushed home; she couldn’t take the chance that this wasn’t a joke. She sighed out as she saw her husband’s car in the driveway; if someone had taken their children, he would’ve been the first to call her. When she opened the door, however, her heart sank lower into the ground as she saw that someone had ransacked the place. She dropped everything and ran upstairs to the children’s rooms.

“A.C.? Solonia? Jamil?!” she panicked. She had swung open both doors but found no children. A lump formed in her throat as she started to hyperventilate; someone actually did take her children. She ran into her room and immediately covered her mouth to keep from sobbing aloud; she found her husband beaten up, lying in the middle of the floor. She dropped to the ground and quickly gathered him in her arms, thankful that he was still breathing, “Oh, my God; Albert!! W-W-W-What happened?!”

“Now… do you believe that this is serious, Dr. Lindsey?” a man’s voice startled her. She looked up and saw a tall blond man in the doorway with piercing, almost inhuman blue eyes. She glared at him.

“Where are my children?!” she demanded. The man simply chuckled and threw his arm out, sending her body towards the wall. He slowly approached her with his hand still up, using some sort of magical force to keep her pinned to the wall.

“They’re safe… for now. Once the mission is complete, your children will be returned to you…” he told her calmly. More tears streamed down to her cheeks as she sobbed.

“If you hurt my babies…”

“You are in no position to issue any threats to me! Now… you will do as you are told and your children will remain safe. First things first… your communicator…” he held his other hand out. She slightly widened her eyes at him; how did he know about her communicator? She saw that he had released enough pressure away from her in order for her to do so. She reluctantly took it out of her ear and handed it to him. He placed it in his pocket and released the rest of his hold on her, making her drop to the ground, “Now… duplicate this five times…” he threw a badge at her. The professor looked at the badge and shot a look at the man.

“M-M-My… Watchtower ID… y-you’re gonna sneak aboard Watchtower?!”

“If **any** Justice League member is notified… including the Martian… you will never see your children again!”

* * *

After the announcement of establishing Metro Tower, there was a constant bustle aboard Watchtower; quite a few members volunteered to move down to Earth. Tabitha hadn’t made her decision yet however she helped the others move things back and forth between the two stations.

“Tabitha…” she stopped what she was doing at the sound of J’onn’s voice. He approached her, “I need to speak with you.” he simply told her. Overhearing, Diana came by and took the box from her.

“I’ll take over from here.” she volunteered as the two made their way to Tabitha’s room. No sooner had the door closed, J’onn embraced her and gave her a kiss. She sighed happily.

“Good to have things slightly back to normal…”

“I agree. I’m really proud of you for how you handled things.”

“Kara did all the work…”

“She didn’t. It was you who got everything back to running. You contacted Bruce and Wally. And… you saved him. You risked being sucked into the Speed Force to do so…” he pointed out. She gave him a shy smile and shrugged.

“I just… reacted. Kinda foolish…”

“In a way. However… I know that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to save a friend. It was very brave of you.” he kissed her on the forehead. J’onn remembered the real reason for his visit and smiled, “Will you be moving to Metro Tower?” he looked at her. His question made her think about her plan however she shrugged.

“I’m going wherever you’re going; you know that!”

“For the moment, it will be here. Who is to say if that should change in the near future?”

“Forgot; you’re a mind reader not a psychic!” she laughed, “Why you ask?”

“Call me curious. I know that being back on Earth is something that you miss…”

“A bit. Gotten so used to being up here… with you. If I make the decision to leave here… a nice place outside of Metro Tower would be nice…” she gave him a smirk. He only nodded, a bit disappointed.

“I would miss having you around me. However, if that’s what you want…”

“J’onn!” she almost laughed, “Really? That went over your head?!”

“… I’m confused…” he gave her a puzzled look. She sighed heavily.

“That was an invitation for you to move in with me, Martian! You know, have our own place together?” she confessed. It was enough for him to give her a surprised look; what he wanted to talk about could wait!

“Tabitha…”

“What? If you’re thinking it’s too soon, you can erase that thought right now! We’ve been together for two years. Hell; doc **married** Albert a year after they met!”

“Are you suggesting that we get mar…”

“W-What? No! I…” she stammered; she really hadn’t thought about marriage. She seriously was taking things one day at a time with the Martian, regardless of what she learned from her mission into the future. As far as she was concerned, nothing was ever truly set in stone, “I just want us to live together… wait… unless you’re truly uncomfortable with that…”

“I’ve grown quite accustomed to human ways. Is this what you truly want?”

“I don’t see the problem with it; we’re around each other twenty-four/seven as it is… might as well have a house together!” she explained. The idea had been in her head for quite some time. She admitted that she had an ulterior motive for her suggestion; for the two to live together, it was possible that they would have to finally tell everyone about their relationship: someone else would pick up on the fact that the two would be leaving Watchtower or Metro Tower together.

Having their own home; the thought actually warmed the Martian. While he had acquired a few places that he could call his own, he never had a home that he shared with anyone, not since he lived on Mars. He didn’t see it as a huge step; it wasn’t like he didn’t know the lightning woman, inside and out! He knew every single thing about her: her strengths, her weaknesses, her fears, her faults and her quirks. What she displayed aboard Watchtower would be what he would expect to see in the privacy of their own home.

Would this move force him into letting the others know how much he loved Tabitha, he wondered. While he considered a handful of League members friends, they still did not know the Martian as well as they thought. When he wasn’t assigning missions, he seldom spoke to anyone else; he tried to keep himself as isolated as possible. No one knew what he did “afterhours” or even during downtime; he somehow doubted that anyone would find out that the two were living together.

“That is something I would like very much…”

* * *

As everyone made themselves busy traveling back and forth between the two stations, no one noticed the unfamiliar civilians among the new shift coming aboard Watchtower. J’onn and Tabitha had made themselves busy over the main control panel, with Tabitha slightly rolling her eyes as the Martian spoke. He looked at her.

“Is this boring you…?”

“I just don’t get why you keep going over the same thing over and over again!”

“I just want to make sure that you comprehend…”

“Why you tryna beat this into my head? You know… you could save us both a headache if you’d just download the stuff in my brain!”

“I have offered to teach you several things and you have always declined; I’ve long since stopped trying. You can either take all of my offers or none; you can’t have the best of both worlds!” he eyed her. She gave him a smirk and opened her mouth, “Any condescending remarks you have, I am able to retaliate against now… I’ve been around you far too long…” he returned her smirk.

“You and your big words…” she mumbled.

“Would you like for me to download more vocabulary into your brain…?” he surprised her. She gawked at him.

“Wow… that… you’re really being a true smart ass today!” she had no other choice but to laugh; she actually enjoyed when the Martian acted that way, “So, how many folks moving to Metro Tower?”

“I’m not sure right now. Many are moving there temporarily, at least until Watchtower is completed of repairs. How much longer will that be?”

“I gotta make another check and then I can tell you. Those holes in the hull are gonna take a while; a week, maybe? I got some minor repairs that could take only a couple of hours.”

“Captain Atom and John could be made available; would that speed things up?”

“… It would. You know… you’ve been tryna rush me into these repairs; what’s going on?” she narrowed her eyes at him. She knew that he wasn’t an impatient person. He simply gave her a warm smile.

“Metro Tower needs a Monitor; I wanted to make sure that things were in order here before that happened.”

“… Oh; that’s understandable. Yeah… Metro Tower would need a few upgrades… maybe if I could just do the simple repairs and get a team to get to those holes, I could…” her train of thought was interrupted by J’onn’s laughter, “W-What…?”

“I find you quite charming when you’re oblivious! I would like to assign you as Monitor of Metro Tower.” he fully explained. She stared at him with widened eyes.

“Y-You’re… asking **me** to be Monitor?!”

“Yes. Kara told us how well you handled everything. You did not doubt any of the decisions that you made and for the most part, they were all sound ones. When I assigned you as temp Monitor, I never doubted your skills over the controls; that was the easy part. I wondered how you would handle the mental part of the job. You did very well… and you will do well at Metro Tower.”

“… It’s a big step…”

“One that I’m sure you’ll be able to handle. You’re willing to take the step for us to live together… but not to become Monitor…?”

“… Greater chance for me to screw up being a Monitor…”

“You will do just fine. You handled the President with… well, with better ease the second time around! For Watchtower to go through an attack as massive as it was… Kara and you made sure that everyone remained safe…”

“Then… why ain’t Kara being offered the job…?”

“I didn’t train her… I trained you. Have you not realized that I will be available if you need any help?” he asked her. Tabitha simply thought about his words. When she became a member of the League, she had never thought that she would be in any position of authority; as far as she was concerned, the founding seven were all that was needed. She was content just being a part of the team.

What made her look at him and smile was the fact that she knew he was impressed by how much she had learned and how calm she actually stayed under pressure. She also realized that he was right; J’onn hadn’t said anything about stepping down as Monitor of Watchtower: she would always be in contact with him if she needed help or even advice. Tabitha had nothing to worry about.

“Alright… I’ll accept.”

* * *

[1]-[7] Paraphrased from Justice League Unlimited episode, “Divided We Fall”


	24. Task Force, Part 2

She was surprised that the repairs were going as smoothly and quickly as possible. Tabitha had become accustomed to being the only one who knew their way around the wires; she had always felt that no one else would be able to do her job better. While she appreciated the help, she still looked over everyone’s work, going over and making their repairs indestructible.

John raised an eyebrow at her as she made changes to his repair job.

“OCD…?”

“When you can do what I can do with the wires… **then** you can say something!” she turned over her shoulder and smirked at him, “I can’t help that I like messing with wires and stuff…”

“Or that you’re a perfectionist…” Captain Atom joined in.

“When you do things yourself, they get done right…”

“… Close enough…” J’onn smiled as the two men laughed.

“Will you miss it? Making repairs and upgrades, that is.” John asked. Tabitha eyed him strangely.

“Being Monitor ain’t gonna stop me from doing upgrades!”

“Maybe not but… it guarantees more missions for you…” John smiled at her. She stopped working and cracked a slight smile; that was something that hadn’t dawn on her. She had seen J’onn assign himself to missions plenty of times; once she was appointed Monitor of Metro Tower, there would be no stopping her from assigning herself!

He knew that the concept would come up; her going on more missions. She had told the Martian herself that she had become more comfortable staying aboard Watchtower. However, he knew that the thrill of adventure was still embedded in her; instead of assigning other members to help with the battle against Luthor/Brainiac, she volunteered herself.

J’onn’s thoughts along with everyone else’s were interrupted by a small tremor followed by the blaring of a warning alarm.

“What the…” Tabitha was up and alongside the other three as they made their way to the control room. She immediately looked at the monitors and gave the others a shocked look, “An explosion in the reactor room…” she held her breath.

“Order an immediate evacuation; I’ll go and assess the damage.”

“The reactor room? Let me; that’s more of my expertise…” Captain Atom volunteered for J’onn. He nodded as the man left and Tabitha announced the evacuation.

“You’ll need to leave as well. Don’t worry; John and I can handle things…” he looked at her as she opened her mouth. He didn’t give her a chance to respond as John and himself left to help with evacuations. She pressed her communicator; she needed to tell her best friend that she was on her way there.

“Doc…” she tried. She was surprised that there was no answer, “Doc!” she tried yet again; maybe the professor didn’t have the communicator in her ear. There was still no answer and that made Tabitha worry. Another click on the communicator and Jamila’s cellphone rang. Still no answer. She tried the home phone and almost stopped breathing as that, too went to voicemail. Something was definitely wrong; either the professor or her husband would had at least answered the home phone. Tabitha turned back to the control panel and was about to try to locate Jamila’s communicator.

“Tabitha!” J’onn’s voice echoed throughout the room, “I told you to evacuate!”

“… Something’s wrong with doc; she ain’t answering her communicator…”

“Go check on her. Regardless of how you feel… I don’t give these orders to be mean to you…”

“That explosion wasn’t an accident, J’onn…” both Tabitha and J’onn heard through their communicators. She gave J’onn a worried look.

“Who… who would set off something like that on purpose?!”

“Someone with a deadly objective… or… someone trying to create a diver…”

“Security breach in the storage room!” John’s panicked voice entered their ears. J’onn looked at his girlfriend.

“This is going to get out of hand; get out of here and check on Jamila.” he told her. He was caught off guard as Tabitha folded her arms and shook her head.

“Gonna have to disobey that order, sir! Only way outta here is through this room; whoever’s stealing is gonna have to go through you… and I’m your backup!” she declared. He simply looked at her and gave her a slight smile.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Cocked, locked and ready to rock!”

“Make sure you keep up, then…”

“… Smart ass…”

The two didn’t have to wait long; they heard a commotion in the hallway leading towards the control room: whoever the intruders were had encountered three Justice League members. As the fight found its way into the room, J’onn made himself invisible.

“ _Huh… whoever they are, they’re taking care of things…_ ”

“ _They’ll be sadly mistaken if they think we’re going down that easily…_ ” he assured her. The intruders consisted of four men and a woman: Colonel Rick Flagg, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Clock King and Plastique; the five took care of the three Justice League members, Vigilante, Atom Smasher and Shining Knight, but looked in shock as Tabitha slowly clapped.

“Oh… that was good; that was real good! Now… I bet you’re wondering who’s this broad standing in your way and why she’s here by herself…”

“You would be correct, ma’am…” Rick mentioned. She took notice of his demeanor and the way he stood in the room and smiled.

“Oh… military. Been a while since I’ve kicked some military ass! Anyway; I ain’t gotta tell you who I am but I’m pleased to tell ya that… I ain’t alone!” she smiled wider as the Martian appeared in front of them. He looked at the five.

“Ask yourselves: is being in here with me what you truly desire…?[1]”

“ **And** he has backup? Boy… you picked the wrong damn day to come up in here!” Tabitha slowly shook her head but continued to smile. The group tried to escape however was stopped short as she did a Lightning Cloud, appearing in front of Rick. He widened his eyes at her.

“Seriously… who are you…?”

“Kinda hurt that you don’t know me! Eh; don’t matter: I’m someone you **really** don’t wanna fuck with right about now!” she said and started to charge up.

“ _Wait…_ ”

“ _What?_ ”

“ _No abilities; they have no powers…_ ”

“ _Aw, seriously_?!” she heavily sighed and rolled her eyes. Tabitha stopped charging up and simply hit Rick in his jaw, sending him stumbling back. Captain Boomerang took out one of his patented weapons, about to throw it towards the lightning woman. He was stopped short as J’onn materialized behind him and caught his wrist, making him drop his boomerang. Tabitha saw that Plastique was going after the Martian and did a Lightning Cloud in front of her. With ease, she threw the woman away, making her crash into Rick and Clock King, “You came up in here with no fighting skills? This ain’t gonna end well for you!” she slightly taunted. As the two teamed up, she was glad that they were making easy work of the intruders. Tabitha had to admit that J’onn and she were really a well matched pair when it came to fighting alongside each other.

As Tabitha was taking care of Clock King, she became distracted by a sound that came from the hallway; whatever was approaching the room sounded large and metallic. Her eyes widened as the Annihilator battlesuit made its way into the room.

“Oh, holy hell… I think I know what they tryna steal, now!” she looked over at J’onn. When she did, all she could do was stand and look on in horror; the Martian transformed into a translucent monstrous form, terrorizing Plastique. Tabitha couldn’t move; she knew that he was a shape shifter but never did she think that he would turn into something like **that**! His eyes glowed a blood red as he snarled at her, exposing elongated, razor sharp teeth; his hands were replaced with claws. When he wrapped his body around her and she screamed… Tabitha wanted to do the same. The sight made her immobile however as terrified as she was… Tabitha really wanted to know why that form was so familiar to her. As she thought about it, she admitted that it reminded her so much of when she was attacked by Ma’alefa’ak; she had the exact same feeling then as she did at that moment…

She gasped as it finally hit her. The reason why it seemed so familiar was because she had seen it before… when she was alone with the Martian’s twin: Ma’alefa’ak had shifted into the exact same being. Tabitha knew the reason as to why someone would block that out of their mind; she wondered why she had only blocked out that image… and not the entire fight as a whole. She had remembered everything else from that fight; how tight he had her pinned to the wall, how hard he had thrown her across the room… she even remembered him talking about a Martian’s true form. A flood of emotions engulfed her as she finally put two and two together: the reason why she had forgotten about the image… was because J’onn had made her forget.

Becoming active by the fighting, the Annihilator suddenly grabbed J’onn and lifted him over its head. Without warning, it pulled and easily ripped him in half. Watching the scene, everything in Tabitha’s body went numb as his scream echoed throughout the room. She collapsed to her knees, shaking her head in disbelief.

“No… **J’ONN!!!!!!** ” her body wouldn’t let her move, let alone breathe right. Tears immediately flowed down her cheeks as she could only stare at his lifeless upper body. She willed herself to look at the Annihilator, the only thing going through her mind was attacking it. She stopped herself from getting up to do so, remembering what the future Ramil and Ashley had told her; she had no choice but to stay put.

It wasn’t fair, she angrily and sadly thought. She covered her mouth and shook from trying to keep the sobs in; the last emotion she had for him was anger. More tears streamed down to her cheeks as she realized that… she never got the chance to tell him how much he really meant to her: she loved him.

She didn’t feel like fighting anymore as she somberly watched the group make their way to the teleportation pads with the Annihilator. What was the point, she thought. Fighting would only set off the battlesuit which would risk going through the same fate as the Martian had. Maybe… it would be the right way to die, she sadly thought. She knew that it wouldn’t feel right being without him; the two had been by each other’s side for years. Would there be anyone else out there for her?

Just when she made up her mind to attack, she looked on in shock as she witnessed J’onn attacking the battlesuit.

“…J-J… J’onn…?” she half whispered. It couldn’t be, she mused and looked where she had just seen his body torn in two on the ground; he was **just** there… dead! Her mind was still numb however she still made her way towards the group and continued the fight. Captain Atom and John finally made their way into the room and were about to join in on the attack until Plastique picked up an unconscious Atom Smasher. She held up a slender white disc against his throat, making the League members stop their attack.

“Stop where you are or it’s going to get really messy in here…” she threatened. Tabitha glared at her.

“You ain’t got the balls…” she mentioned. The group was bold enough to sneak aboard Watchtower and even take on a few Justice League members; if they were going to injure or kill anyone, the intruders would had done so by now.

“You really want to test your theory out? Go ahead and attack!” Plastique smiled at the woman.

“Hmph…” Tabitha narrowed her eyes at her; a Lightning Cloud should solve all this, she thought. Before she could make a move, J’onn held her back. He looked at her and shook his head, slightly sighing.

“… Let them go…” he reluctantly agreed, putting his arm down. He knew that there was a possibility that his girlfriend would be able to apprehend the woman; he didn’t want to risk anyone’s safety. Tabitha slightly backed down but quickly glanced over at Captain Atom; he was just as antsy as the lightning woman was. He saw that she looked at him and darted her eyes towards Plastique before looking back at him. When he gave her an almost unnoticeable nod, Tabitha knew that he got the meaning; she was not going to let Plastique and her crew get away with anything!

Tabitha did a quick Lightning Cloud and appeared behind Plastique just as Captain Atom rushed over to grab Atom Smasher. The Martian widened his eyes and made his way towards them.

“Tabitha, no!!” he tried but it was too late. Tabitha gave Plastique a small shock, making the woman drop her explosive. From the teleportation pads, Deadshot raised his pistol and shot at the disc. Before it could explode, J’onn tackled Tabitha and covered her from the explosion with his cape. She couldn’t help but to stare at him; a few moments ago, he was dead; torn into two. When he felt it was safe, he lifted her up, feeling a mix of anger and relief at the same time, “Are you okay?” if anything, he wanted to make sure about her safety.

She couldn’t say anything; she could only continue to stare at him, looking him over with misty eyes. She saw nothing that showed that he had even been harmed around his waistline. Tabitha bit her lip to keep herself from crying but it was no use as a tear made its way down her cheek. The way he looked at her, she knew that he was highly upset with her antics… he had every right to be.

“You… y-y-y-you were…” she couldn’t form the words without letting sobs escape.

“I’m fine; regeneration…” he tried to assure her. As the smoke cleared the room, they saw that the intruders, along with the Annihilator were gone. The Martian rushed up to the control panel and tried to trace their coordinates however he was stopped short as it started to smoke and blew up, “… They thought of everything…[2]” he sadly realized. Tabitha tried not to think about anything else as she looked at the damage in the room, cringing when her eyes landed on the badly battered bodies of Plastique and Atom Smasher. She quickly wiped at her eyes and looked away.

“Get these two to the infirmary now!” she sternly announced to anyone who was listening. It was all her fault, she realized. She was only trying to save the League member and stop the intruders before they escaped. How was she to know that one of the intruders had a gun on them? She should have listened to J’onn; she should have never tried to play the hero.

Tabitha made her way towards the console and immediately went to work on it. The Martian wanted to talk to her about her actions however he noticed that she was still clearly shaken from everything as her hands trembled while she worked. He sighed and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder only for her to shake it off, not bothering to even look at him.

“Tabitha…”

“I-I… I know what you’re gonna say; this is my fault…” her voice quivered. More tears formed at the thought, making J’onn shake his head slightly and attempt to wipe at her tears.

“… I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay…” he told her. He saw that it wasn’t the right time to point fingers and lecture; he needed her to calm down. His voice and the genuine concern behind it was enough for more tears to roll down her cheeks.

“N-N-No. I just… j-just… give me a minute… okay?” it bothered him that she still didn’t look at him. The only thing he could do was nod and look over at John.

“… I want to know who they were… and how they were able to get aboard…” he told him calmly.

“I’ll ask around.” John volunteered and left the area. J’onn was going to check on things in the infirmary but was stopped as he heard Tabitha sobbing. He turned to look at her and saw that tears flowed out of her eyes. She continued to work although she could barely see through her tear-stained eyes. He couldn’t take it any longer and finally made her stop, forcing her to hug him. Tabitha shook as she sobbed, burying her head in his chest.

“Everything will be fine. You made a mistake; it happens. You were only trying to do the right thing…” he tried to comfort her; he knew that her heart was in the right place.

“You… you were dead. I-I-I watched you… die…” her muffled voice still quivered. His supposedly death was still fresh in her mind and she held him tight as she continued to cry.

“Oh, Tabitha… I’m so sorry. I meant to tell you about that ability…” he slightly whispered. The Martian was able to regenerate his entire body from a very small fragment of his skin; being torn into two, while painful was nothing for him to recover from.

She was starting to calm down from everything, especially seeing that it seemed as though he was no longer in the mood to attempt to lecture her. He understood her motive for what she had done and was simply grateful that she wasn’t harmed in the process. It was a bit selfish on his part; there were others who he needed to worry about. However, Tabitha Lyght was human… and the one that he loved.

He stopped hugging her and made her look at him, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks and eyes. She took a deep breath and simply looked at him… and was reminded of what he had done. She cleared her throat and let go of him.

“J’onn… we gotta…”

“J’onn, I believe that he has some information to share with you.” John interrupted, escorting a civilian worker over to the two. Tabitha looked at the older man, recognizing him as one of the control room crew members.

“What do you know?” J’onn stared blankly at him.

“Oh, dear God; please don’t say you had a hand in this…” she thought that she had mumbled it however the older man dropped his head slightly and sighed.

“They’ll… they’ll do something to me if I say anything…” he weakly responded. It was enough for Tabitha to glare at him.

“Really? You’re scared of what a bunch of normal folks will do to you? You **better** be afraid of what **I’ll** do to you if ya don’t start talking!” she took a step towards him. J’onn held her back but kept his eyes on the man.

“Her emotions are high… however she is right… and my patience is quickly wearing thin…”

“I… I gave some… information to the group… about when to… sneak aboard…” he finally admitted.

“You’re joking… right? **Please** tell me you’re joking!” Tabitha’s anger made the man tremble.

“Who… were they?”

“A-All I know is that they call themselves… Task Force X…”

“And, how were they even able to get up here?” J’onn narrowed his eyes at the older man. He took a hard swallow, switching glances from the Martian to the lightning woman and back to the ground.

“I… I used to work with this guy… h-his wife… can make fake IDs…” he admitted. Tabitha’s eyes widened; it was too much of a coincidence...

“… N-No…” she shook her head. Before anyone could stop her, Tabitha grabbed the man by his shirt, glaring at him, “You better tell me you’re lying or I’m a beat the living shit outta you and make you into a fucking example!!” she told him. John grabbed her away from the elderly man.

“Get him out of my sight…” J’onn glared at the man as two guards escorted him away.

“And, you’re fired! You’re so fucking fired!!”

“Tabitha!” John tried to calm her down, “Mind filling me in on why what he said has got you so riled up?”

“… Jamila can make fake IDs…” J’onn answered for her. John widened his eyes.

“… She would betray us like this…”

“No; no way in hell doc would do something like that without being pressured into it!”

“J’onn…?” John looked at the Martian. He slowly shook his head, still angry that one of their civilian workers would do such a thing.

“I think… I should erase his entire mind!”

“Yes; great fucking idea! And, while we’re at it, go ahead and fire the whole **lot** of ‘em!”

“Now, hold on you two! Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?!”

“What is harsh is the fact that he gave out sensitive information…”

“It would be pointless to erase his mind, J’onn! He’s told us everything.”

“It’ll make me sleep better at night knowing he don’t know nothing. Can’t trust him to hold water, now!” Tabitha crossed her arms.

“Do you really thing that we can trust **any** of the staff after this? So, what; J’onn erases **everyone’s** minds?!”

“I would have to erase Jamila’s mind as well; she…” Tabitha glared at J’onn before he could finish his sentence.

“Doc ain’t no traitor; how could you even **think** of accusing her of it?!”

“Tabitha…” he was surprised that she snapped at him. He put that thought in the back of his mind, “The only way we’ll know is by asking her, ourselves. How long will it take you to fix the console?”

“A few minutes…” she huffed and immediately went back to work.

* * *

The remaining members of Task Force X brought the Annihilator battlesuit into the abandoned warehouse where the plan was originally concocted. They were slightly surprised by the blond haired, blue eyed man that met them inside.

“Hmm… it took you longer than I had expected…” he tried to reprimand.

“Never intended on taking on Martian Manhunter… or for him to have some help…” Rick eyed the man. He looked the group over and tilted his head.

“You’re missing a member…”

“… Blown up…” Deadshot vaguely mentioned. The man shrugged and patted the battlesuit.

“Hmm… oh, well; not my problem. I got what I wanted. You’ll find the rest of your money in that suitcase there…” the man pointed towards a suitcase in the middle of the room. He performed a small chant and the Annihilator came back to life, following him.

“W-Wait! Who are you? And… what about those kids you took?” Captain Boomerang asked. The man looked back and gave him an evil smile.

“Let’s just stick with Mr. Sera. And, as for those children… you can release them if you want… but they’re a long way from home…” he laughed as he teleported himself and the battlesuit.

* * *

The three teleported themselves in front of Jamila’s home. Tabitha took notice of the yard; both cars were there. She looked at the two men.

“When I tried to contact her earlier… she didn’t answer her communicator, her cell or her house phone…”

“Hmm… something isn’t right…” John agreed. He used the power of his ring to scan the home and the surrounding area. After a few moments, he quickly looked at J’onn and Tabitha, “Her house… it’s bugged.” he confirmed. Tabitha’s heart raced as she looked at J’onn.

“Can you… feel her and the trips in there…?” she quietly asked. The Martian simply looked at the house.

“… All I sense are Jamila and her husband…”

“Fuck my life… I should’ve came down here to protect her and the kids…” she breathed out as the three made their way onto the porch. J’onn shifted to a human form as he knocked on the door.

“What’s done is done; let’s see if we can remedy it… without mentioning what just happened on Watchtower.” J’onn said and the two agreed. Moments later, they heard the rattling of the chain and the deadbolt being unlocked. The door slowly opened, giving the three a half view of Jamila’s face. Her bloodshot eyes widened for a second but then went back to normal. She cleared her throat and put on an obvious fake smile.

“T-Tabs… it’s… it’s nice to… see you…” she tried her best to sound normal. Tabitha’s heart ached for her best friend as she noticed that the professor would not move away from the door, let alone even open it wide enough for them to see her fully.

“Doc! Let us in, will ya? Didn’t come all this way just to talk to you from out here!” she put on her best fake smile. Jamila quickly scanned the area outside before reluctantly letting the three in.

“S-So… um… how you been…? H-Haven’t seen you in a while…”

“Been busy. You?”

“O-Oh… the same. W-Who’s your… friend…?” Jamila glanced at J’onn as they made their way into the kitchen.

“This… is… Joe. Old friend from high school. He’s got an interest in physics and I told him about you. He’s thinking about transferring here…”

“Oh. Well… maybe it’ll be best for him. _J’onn; oh, my God: I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t have any other choice!_ You must’ve filled his head with all kinds of tall tales about me…” she said and sat down.

“She talks about you constantly; I wanted to meet the legend in person! _Where are your children?_ _Tell me exactly what happened._ ”

“Oh… I’m no legend; just an ordinary professor. _I don’t know where they are! He took my babies!! H-H-He told me that… if I didn’t make copies of my ID… I wouldn’t see them, again! He said he’d release them after the job was done b-b-but… I haven’t heard from anyone in hours! If you don’t want anything to do with me… I’ll understand. But, please… I beg you… just find my babies!_ ” tears streamed down her face as she stared at J’onn.

“ _We will find them; I promise._ Well, I’m willing to learn more from an ordinary professor that my friend can’t stop talking about!” he responded. Jamila wiped at her tears and nodded.

“… We’ll have to talk some more at the campus. _He took my communicator and bugged my phones and the entire house!_ ”

“ _I figured as much. Your husband…?_ ”

“The semester is almost over but… I’d rather for you to go ahead and get… all the paperwork out the way. _He’s fine… physically._ ”

“Thank you, Dr. Lindsey. _Don’t worry about me being upset with you… you’re forgiven…_ ” J’onn looked dead at Jamila. She let out a shaky sigh and nodded. J’onn glanced at Tabitha and John, “ _Whoever organized Task Force X took the children hostage to make sure that Jamila made the IDs. I’m sorry that I accused her…_ ” he eyed Tabitha more. She bit her tongue and nodded, “Well, I hate to cut our visit short but I have to get going…”

“It’s… okay…” the professor nodded as the three started to leave. Tabitha immediately embraced her friend, giving her a tight squeeze.

“… I’ll see you later, doc…”

“… Stay out of trouble, Tabs.” she looked dead at Tabitha. The lightning woman could do nothing but nod as the three left. As they left the yard, the three looked at each other.

“I… I can’t even imagine what she’s going through…” John shook his head. Tabitha shook her head angrily and wiped at the tears that finally came.

“I gotta find the trips… and get those damn bugs out the house…”

“You are not handling this alone; you don’t know what you’re getting into…”

“Oh… so, you know? You know who did this? Who’d kidnap innocent children just so that they can get on Watchtower?!”

“Tabitha…” J’onn eyed her strangely as she directed her anger towards him.

“You **don’t** know! You don’t know the Lindseys like I do; this got nothing to do with you, with either of you!” she glared at both League members.

“Tabitha! You will **not** do this alone, regardless of how much longer you’ve known the Lindseys; I have been a Justice League member longer than that!” J’onn returned the glare, “We’re returning back to Watchtower and you will track down Jamila’s communicator.” he commanded. She huffed and looked the other way.

“Fine…”

She could barely concentrate on her objective, she was extremely upset with the Martian. Tabitha managed to track down Jamila’s lost communicator and looked at the coordinates strangely.

“Huh… it’s in Metropolis…” she mumbled and quickly made her way towards the teleportation pads. J’onn appeared beside her, grabbing her by the elbow.

“I meant what I said, Tabitha. I am coming with you, whether you like it or not. I understand that you’re worried about the children. But, I will not allow you to play hero by yourself; you would only make this out into a suicide mission. I sense that something else is wrong… but we’ll talk about it once the children are safe.” he told her. She narrowed her eyes at him, snatching her elbow away from his grasp.

“You read minds… maybe you can figure it out sooner than that!”

The two made their way to the abandoned warehouse and checked out the perimeters.

“Something ain’t right… there’s no guards… or henchmen… or anything…” she noticed. J’onn nodded.

“We’ll still stay alert. If the children are here… save them; I will handle everything else…” he told her and became invisible. Tabitha did a quick and quiet Lightning Cloud towards the building, sneaking inside through an ajar door. She found herself disappointed as she looked around and saw that it was empty. Her attention went to a dust and cobweb-covered table and she approached it.

“… Doc’s communicator…” she whispered as she picked it up, “ _Clear in the main area… found doc’s communicator, though…_ ”

“ _I found the children. There should be a staircase to your left leading down._ ” J’onn told her. Her heart raced as she made her way down the stairs; he didn’t tell her if they were okay or not. She covered her mouth and held her tears in as she saw J’onn untying the children from the chairs.

“Miss Tabitha!!” Jamil couldn’t hold in his excitement. Tabitha helped J’onn untie Solonia and A.C., removing the duct tape carefully from their mouths. The three immediately hugged her.

“Trips! You guys okay? Are you hurt?” she hurriedly asked, tears forming in her eyes.

“We’re fine. We’re hungry…”

“I **knew** you’d come to save us!” A.C. told her.

“What took you so long?!” Solonia asked, making Tabitha laugh.

“We had to take care of a few bad guys. Did you guys see who took you?”

“… He had powers…” A.C. mentioned.

“Powers? What kind of powers?”

“He did like this…” Jamil extended his arm out, “… And he made you stay put. And, he could teleport…”

“Like us?”

“Yep. He was always talking about weapons and war and stuff…” Solonia told Tabitha. The lightning woman looked over at J’onn.

“… Ares…” he confirmed, “It makes sense, now…”

“… Ares…? The god of war, Ares?!” she widened her eyes. Tabitha shook her head and looked at the triplets, “You know what… let’s just get them home…”

The five didn’t have to approach the yard before the door swung open and both parents rushed to greet their children. Jamila was finally able to let her sobs out; sobs that had been building up since she first discovered the children were gone. She kissed and hugged all three tightly.

“Oh… my babies! I’m sorry; mommy’s so sorry!!” the mother and children collapsed in the grass, “Thank you; thank you so much! I’m so sorry! I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again! I… I owe you so much, Tabs… I… I don’t know what…”

“Don’t, doc. It’s okay. They’re safe; that’s good enough for me…”

“Let’s remove the devices from the house… _and then we talk…_ ” J’onn told her and the two went inside. It took them almost thirty minutes to clear the home and their search ended in the guest bedroom. He sighed as she crossed her arms and looked around the room, “Tabitha…”

“You know what; we **do** need to talk!”

“… If this is about me not telling you about my regenera…”

“This ain’t got nothing to do with that! How many times have you tampered with my mind?” she figured that the only way to handle things would be to just blurt out her questions.

“Tabitha…”

“Cuz, I can count at least twice since we’ve known each other! I understood making me sleep through an alarm but… why in the **hell** would you erase a memory from me?!” she glared at him. For the first time in his existence, the Martian cursed at himself; how could he have been so careless as to shift into the very beast that he had wiped from her memory?

“… I only did it for your protection…”

“My protection? If you wanted to protect me… you should’ve erased the whole gaddamn fight!! Why didn’t you tell me before, like when I lost my memory?! You had a whole fucking month to confess to everything then!”

“I never intended for you to get a glimpse of…”

“Just like you never intended on telling me about my new DNA, just like you never intended on telling anyone about us!”

“That isn’t fair to bring that up…”

“Oh, but mind raping me is fair?! You sure as hell didn’t give me a **choice** to forget!”

“I felt that it was the right thing to do at the time…”

“So… without telling me, without even giving me so much as a damn warning, you thought it was the right thing to erase a memory…? I must be on the list of the humans that you don’t trust!”

“That isn’t true!”

“Being with you… I don’t know what’s true! You made me sleep through an alarm, instead of just telling me no like you always do; you erased a memory… what’s stopped you from doing more?! Did you trick me to fall in love with you?!”

“… How could you even think that? I would **never** manipulate you to do something like that!”

“But, how would I know?! If I didn’t see you turn into that monster… I would have **never** known! Let’s face it: you’ll never tell me if you’ve fucked with my mind more than what I know about! You said you can’t trust most humans. But, tell me this: how the hell can anyone trust **you** knowing what you can do?!” a hot tear rolled down her cheek. She stopped looking at him; she couldn’t do it anymore, especially after what she thought next.

“… What are you saying…?” he was actually afraid of the answer. Another tear rolled down her face as she shook her head and looked at him.

“I… I don’t think I can trust you, J’onn. And… if I can’t trust you… and you can’t trust me to make my own decisions… why are we with each other…? I… m-maybe we need a break from each other… until you can show me that I can trust you…” she almost couldn’t get the words out, the lump in her throat nearly preventing her to do so. She turned to leave only to be stopped by the Martian grabbing her arms.

“Tabitha!” he tried. She looked at him.

“… Can I trust you…?”

“Of course, you can! You should know this…”

“… Can I trust you not to use your ability on me? Can I even trust you to… to tell everyone… about us…?” she asked. He had an answer for the first part of her question; it was the second question that made him simply look at her. He still wasn’t ready to let the other League members know about the two; he still felt that they wouldn’t be ready.

His silence was all that she needed to hear. Her eyes misted over yet again as she slowly shook her head and snatched away from his grasp.

“… Goodbye, J’onn…” was all she could say before leaving the room. He just stared at the closed door, wondering how everything had changed so quickly. She didn’t want to listen to him; she didn’t let him try to fully explain everything.

“… But… I love you…”

* * *

[1]-[2]Taken from Justice League Unlimited episode, “Task Force X” 


	25. Walking Away

It was no surprise that Tabitha Lyght made the decision to move from Watchtower to Metro Tower, taking on the responsibilities of becoming the Monitor for the embassy on Earth. After all the repairs were completed on Watchtower, the lightning woman was formally introduced as the new Monitor. Metro Tower was smaller than the massive space station however it was designed almost the same; there were individual rooms for the members who decided to make their home there, a gym and training area, a cafeteria and even a simulation program room. At first, she looked forward to finding a place out in Metropolis however she changed her mind; she decided to make her home on Metro Tower.

The old Tabitha Lyght would have accepted the promotion with a smug grin on her face, knowing deep down that she had deserved it. It was what the Martian had trained her on for the past three and a half years; it was only fitting that she would be named Monitor sooner or later. However, being a part of the Justice League had humbled her greatly. Almost everyone that she spoke with was more than a colleague… they were a family. She was more willing to stand back and follow rather than lead, unless it pertained to the ones she loved.

She admitted that it was going to be a difficult task being Monitor. Not because of the responsibility that she had… but because it meant to be a close partner to the Monitor of Watchtower. Tabitha knew of three members who knew about their relationship; the others she had deemed clueless: J’onn and herself had to pretend that everything was as normal as could be. Tabitha was secretly let down that it seemed so easy for the Martian; a bit too easy. It was as if it didn’t bother him at all as he had gave her last minute pointers when she was aboard Watchtower; she almost welcomed the move to Metro Tower, just so she wouldn’t be around him as much.

What Tabitha didn’t know was that it was much harder on the Martian than he had led her to believe. It had been centuries since he felt the pain of heartache… and he didn’t like it one bit. He had grown so used to her being by his side, making smart remarks every chance she got! Seeing how her eyes shone whenever they looked at each other. How soft her skin felt whenever he touched her; it had pained him to be near her every day before her big move and he was no longer able to touch her. To keep from going insane, he had to force himself to act as if he was just fine being her friend yet again. No… they were not even that anymore, he realized as he stared out into space; they were simply League members.

“… J’onn…?” Diana’s voice broke his concentration. He looked her way, “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine; why do you ask?”

“You’ve been really… distant lately.” she tried to find the right words. Ever since the intrusion and the departure of the lightning woman, Diana had noticed a slight change in the Martian. It had been almost four years since the young woman had come aboard Watchtower; before, he was always silent, keeping to himself. Diana was actually happy that he had finally became attached to the new member; Tabitha had slowly brought out a more social side of J’onn J’onzz.

Now that she was gone, the Martian had not only reverted back to his old self but it seemed as though he was merely going through the motions of all of his activities. Diana had a feeling on what the real problem was: just like the rest of the League who decided to stay aboard Watchtower, he missed Tabitha. It was no wonder, Diana reasoned; the two had become just as inseparable as Tabitha and Wally were.

He put his attention back out the window, staring at Earth. He wondered what Tabitha was doing at that moment and if she even thought about him as much as he did her. Was she suffering as bad as he was, wanting badly to simply run to him and accept his embrace?

“Just thinking…” he forced himself to respond. Diana slightly sighed and joined him.

“It’s going to be pretty quiet without her here… isn’t it…?” she volunteered. J’onn gave her a slight nod, “I know how close you two are…” she continued. He gave her a quick look; did she know about their relationship as well? Before he could answer, she looked at him and gave him a sympathetic smile, “It’s not like she left the League, altogether. You look as if you just watched your oldest child go off to college!” she said. The metaphor made him smile a little; he was simply glad that Diana had no clue how close the two really were!

“… It certainly feels that way. Maybe I’m more worried if I trained her enough…” he half admitted. It was a true worry of his in the beginning however seeing how well she managed when the founding members turned themselves in had erased all of his doubts.

“She’ll be fine!” Diana laughed, “If she can handle Watchtower, running Metro Tower will be a piece of cake for her! J’onn… I think you’ve been cooped up in here for far too long…”

“… What…? I don’t… understand…”

“When was the last time you left Watchtower… just to leave?” she looked at him seriously. He opened his mouth to answer but thought against it; how would she take the fact that he had spent Christmas with the lightning woman and her family? Maybe nothing, he tried to reason; for all she knew, he treated her like a child and never had any romantic feelings towards her whatsoever.

“… I spent the holidays with Tabitha and her family…” he took the chance and told her. Diana gave it a thoughtful sound.

“… She forced you… didn’t she…?”

“… How did you know…?” he sighed out and she laughed.

“I think I’ve grown to know her just as much as you have; I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to see you spend it alone! How did you like her family?”

“… They’re a nice family.” he decided not to say more; he still enjoyed the fact that her family eventually treated him as if he was a human along with them.

“Maybe you should… observe more human life. Things have changed since the last time you’ve done so. I know you’re not too keen on humans but… you saw how Tabitha’s family was; there are more people who are like that than you think.”

“Are you saying that I should… leave the Justice League?”

“Not permanently. Just… take a break…” she suggested. There was that word again, he thought. But, maybe she was right. Maybe he needed to get away for a while. Everywhere he went on Watchtower was a constant reminder of Tabitha. He knew that he would always think about her regardless of where he went however… if he took away the factors that reminded him so much of her… maybe it would be less painful and more manageable.

“… That is something to think about…”

“Good. But, my advice? Don’t think… just do…”

* * *

“Holy… fucking… shit; I think you’ve finally lost it! Tabs…” the professor stared at her best friend as they sat in her kitchen, “Why in God’s name would you do something like that?!”

“I didn’t come here to get yelled at like a child, doc…” Tabitha looked down at her glass of juice. Jamila finally stopped pacing and sat down.

“Okay; what the hell did he do that was so horrible?! No… this **had** to be your fault…”

“W-What?! Why would it be **my** fault?!”

“Because J’onn J’onzz is the epitome of perfection! He wouldn’t do nothing to make anyone break up with him!”

“So… you’re saying I’m the fuck up…?”

“Wait… n-no! All I’m saying is… well, let’s list the main reasons for a breakup! Cheating… yeah, right; who would he cheat on you wi… wait… are there any other women in the League?!”

“Diana, Shayera, Kara, Vixen, Fire, Black Canary, Zatanna…”

“Okay, okay; whatever! I don’t see him cheating on you… do you?”

“… No. Doc…”

“Exactly! Now, back to the list! Hmm… being unemployed. Pfft!! He’s a fucking superhero who **founded** the League for Christ sakes! And… he can shape shift to whoever he wants to be; a fireman, a police officer…”

“Doc…” Tabitha held her head in her hands.

“Not done! Maybe he lied about… shit, what would he **lie** about?! Wait… is he gay? Oh, my God… if you tell me he’s gay, my adulthood will be completely ruined…”

“Doc, stop! Just… stop it!!” she was near tears. Jamila looked at her and slightly sighed, taking her hands.

“I’m sorry, hon. B-But… you come in here and tell me that you and J’onn broke up; how else was I supposed to react?”

“I don’t know; like a normal fucking friend?!”

“I was just tryna make sense of it all! Okay… what happened?”

“He… oh… gaddamnit, doc; he erased a fucking memory!” it angered her all over again. The professor could do nothing but look at her distraught friend.

“Oh, Tabs… I’m so sorry…” she apologized, squeezing her hands. She didn’t want to concentrate on how Tabitha knew that he had erased a memory; the point of it all was that he did, “Well… maybe… maybe he had a reason to…” she tried.

“… What?! First you say it’s all my fault and now you’re siding with him, completely?!”

“Tabs…”

“How would you like it if someone you thought cared for you erased a fucking memory from **your** mind?! Let’s not even get into the fact that he won’t tell anyone about y’all or that he’s used his powers on you before and God fucking knows how many other times!!” she yelled. Jamila pulled her hands away and waited until her friend stopped trying to hold in her tears; a few dropped before she angrily wiped at them.

“I… I would be just as upset, if not more. But… it depends on what memory they erased that shows how much they truly care for me…” she carefully explained.

“H-How could you say that? One of your memories is **gone**! A-And… you had no choice in the matter!”

“… There are a few things that have happened to me in the past… that I would give anything in the world to forget. I don’t know what memory he erased… but if he’s got as good of a heart that I think he has… I’m gonna guess that it was a memory that he didn’t want haunting you for the rest of your life. That by itself shows how much he loves you …” she explained.

“If he loves me… then why won’t he tell everyone else…?”

“… I can’t answer that. A lot of reasons pop up. Maybe they did things differently on Mars. Maybe… maybe he don’t want folks to look at you two negatively.”

“They… they wouldn’t do that…”

“How do you know?”

“I… I don’t…” she had to admit that it was a concept she had never thought about. The other League members may had looked up and respected the Martian… but who was to say if they would approve of a Martian being with a human?

“I hope it’s not the case… but it could very well be. **But** … if no one else caught on by now, then they’re all fucking idiots, anyway!” she was glad that her friend finally laughed even if it was a small one, “Look; who cares if no one knows? He ain’t ashamed of you; I can feel that!”

“What… you think he had reason to be…?”

“Well… like you always say… you ain’t the sharpest knife in the drawer…” Jamila held in her snicker. Tabitha widened her eyes at her best friend and pinched her on her hands.

“Bitch!” she laughed fully, wiping her eyes dry, “So, maybe… maybe I overreacted a bit, then?”

“Maybe a little. He meant well, Tabitha… I just know it…” Jamila explained. Tabitha just huffed and got up from the table. Maybe the professor was right, she thought. The Martian hadn’t had a relationship since leaving his home planet; he had never been with a human before. How much different were things, the question made her forehead wrinkle. Regardless, she had a feeling that what they may have deemed unorthodox could had very well been normal for J’onn. When she thought about it, what he had done really **were** acts of love. It finally started to make sense to her; it was the same reason why he made her sleep through that alarm: he didn’t want to see her get hurt… or terrified. She also had to be truthful to herself; the only reason why she flew off the handle was because he had absentmindedly reminded her of why she became too afraid to attack Ma’alefa’ak. Jamila was right: that image was something that Tabitha was just fine not remembering for the rest of life.

She wondered why she just didn’t sit there and listen to him; he had tried to explain himself fully. Maybe it was due to all of the stress she was dealing with; the demon possession, the memory loss, the back-to-back invasions: she had even almost lost her cool, going back to her days of letting her rage blind her. It wasn’t just her relationship that she was overthinking… it was almost everything. She foolishly risked her life; although it was to save her dear friend, she realized that the founding members had been saving lives well before she showed up. What haunted her the most was the fact that she ignored an order; had she simply stayed put as J’onn said, there would had been no serious injuries: the group got away with the Annihilator, regardless.

She glanced at her best friend and started to feel silly about her recent actions. This was someone who was on the outside looking in… but she was also someone who had been married for quite a while; she wasn’t talking nonsense. J’onn really did love Tabitha. And, she loved him.

“… I gotta go…”

“You gonna do what I think you’re gonna do?” the professor couldn’t help but to smile. Tabitha returned the smile and nodded.

“I don’t wanna hear ‘I told you so’ though! I’m buying some Oreos… and going to apologize…”

“… Oreos…?”

* * *

He was glad that Tabitha was nowhere to be found; he didn’t want to break her heart yet again. Diana was right; he needed to see the world and examine humans more. More importantly… he needed time to not dwell on his own heartache. J’onn called for all of the Justice League members so that he could tell them all goodbye. He didn’t know how long he would be gone but he promised that he would return. This time away could do him some good, could do both himself and Tabitha some good; it would give him time to think about what he had to do to regain her trust.

Bruce was confused; what made the Martian decide to take a leave of absence? And, where was Tabitha during all of this? He had figured that she would be by his side, that this would be a two part announcement: J’onn J’onzz would finally confess his love for Tabitha Lyght. However… she was a no-show. Did they plan this, he wondered. No; if she was leaving with him, she would have never accepted Monitor duty. He thought about how the two acted before Tabitha moved back to Earth; neither one was acting normal. As he shook the Martian’s hand, he made the sad realization: they had broken up. This wasn’t some out of the blue decision to leave; J’onn had been broken and wanted to get away from her… possibly as far away as possible. Bruce kept his thoughts to himself as Wally gave the Martian a huge hug; it was pointless now to let him know.

As he received the unexpected hug from Wally, he couldn’t help thinking about it; he would miss the others. For years, Watchtower was his home; the Justice League members were his family. As he made his way down to Earth and shifted into a random human form, he knew that he couldn’t fool himself: as much as he would miss the others, he would most definitely miss the lightning woman. He loved her, just as he had loved his wife; J’onn was going to do whatever it took to get his Tabitha back. The thought made him blush; yes: even if it took him years to return, she would always be his. He wasn’t going to throw in the towel that easily; he was determined to prove himself to her.

“ _I will be back…_ ” he made the silent vow as he easily slipped into the crowd of people.

* * *

The one benefit of being Monitor was the ability to teleport back and forth between the two stations without informing anyone. She had hoped that it wasn’t too late to apologize to the Martian so that they could get back on with their relationship. Maybe she would learn to live with the fact that no one would ever know how they felt about each other; maybe it was a good thing, she tried to reason. One thought that she had was the reaction from everyone; she didn’t want people to assume that the only reason she became Monitor was because she was dating the Monitor of Watchtower.

She shook the thought out of her head as she materialized on the platform, slightly smiling at the white plastic bag; she had filled it with Oreos. She played out the scenario in her head: he would look up from the controls, she would offer the cookies as an apology and they would share a rather passionate kiss, not caring who was there to witness it. When she looked up, her smile immediately left.

“… Mr. Terrific…?” she looked at the dark brown man who was over the console. Outside of the Justice League, he was known as Michael Holt, one of the most intelligent people in the world, if not the universe. After being named Monitor of Metro Tower, Tabitha was told that had J’onn not took the time to train her, the job was more likely going to him, “What… are you doing here…?”

Michael smiled at her although he was taken aback at her question. He had no problem when she was named Monitor; he knew that the Martian was training her specifically to be his successor. What he wanted to know was why she was picked by J’onn from the beginning, although he pretty much knew the answer to that; the Martian had grown too fond of the lightning woman and wanted to protect her at all costs. While being named Monitor didn’t guarantee that, it did guarantee that he would have an even closer connection to her. Because of the apparent fondness the two had actually shown each other, Michael was surprised that he had left without telling her.

“Miss Lyght…”

“Tabitha…” she quickly corrected him.

“Only if you call me Michael. I was wondering why you weren’t here yesterday.”

“I was visiting my family. What happened yesterday? Where’s J’onn?” she asked, approaching him. She knew that the Martian was upset and confused with her however she knew that he would not leave his post unless he was on a mission. Even knowing that, she was Monitor as well; she would have known about the mission beforehand.

“He’s… gone…” he saw the start of despair in her eyes when he spoke. She blinked a few times to try to hide the emotion.

“Gone? What you mean, gone? Like, on a mission gone or…” fear started to make her stomach ache slightly and slowly climbed into her throat. She swallowed it back down to her stomach.

“He took a leave of absence. I’m really surprised that he didn’t tell you…” he could tell that she was near tears as her brown eyes glistened. She looked away slightly, begging herself not to let him see her cry. What did he mean, a leave of absence; why would J’onn leave without telling her, her own voice screamed inside her head.

She wanted to shake her head; this was a joke, she tried to tell herself. It was a prank, an elaborate one; something to get her to make up with him. As soon as the idea entered her head, she knew that she was wrong: the Martian was not capable of pulling pranks, especially something this extreme. He would’ve done something simpler… like ask for her forgiveness.

“We all said goodbye yesterday…” he continued softly. Her eyes slightly widened at his comment. All of the anger that she had felt when she learned of the memory erase came back. He left… without telling her. He picked the one day that she was not around either station to leave. Not only that but… she was the **only** Justice League member he didn’t say goodbye to!

“Huh. I guess… I guess I missed out…” she tried to keep all of her emotions at bay; she actually needed to leave.

“Tabitha… is there any particular reason why you’re the only one he didn’t say goodbye to? I thought that the two of you were close…” Michael wanted to know. If they were more than team members, more than friends as he had expected, why was she the only one who didn’t know that J’onn had left?

To his disappointment, Tabitha sighed, laughed a little and shook her head.

“… I don’t know… you’d have to ask him. I, um… I think I left a few personal belongings in my old room…” she hurriedly mumbled and left before Michael could say more.

Tabitha rushed down the hall and instead of going to her room, she headed straight for J’onn’s. one of the things that he had shared with her was his personal security code; she entered it in the keypad and was surprised that it gave her an error beep. As quickly as he left, his code was reset. She tried one more time however heard the same beep from before. Without thinking, she gave the keypad a quick zap, shorting it out. As the door slid open, she went inside… and finally broke down. She tossed the white bag aside, curling up into a tight ball with her knees to her chest and let the sobs take her over. He was really gone; the room was completely empty. As much as she had really wanted it to be, it was no played out prank: the Martian Manhunter had left the Justice League… and Tabitha Lyght.

  

_**The End**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this book! Now, be sure that you check out Book 2 of the Lyght series, Beckoning Lyght... whenever I post it...*


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